A Study of the Alcoholysis of Cellulose1

Abstract

A study was made of the alcoholysis of cotton linters using methanol, n-butanol, n-hexanol, and n-octanol acidified with hydrogen chloride. All traces of water could not be removed from this system, and further water was formed during the degradations by a reaction between the alcohol and the hydrogen chloride. The linters were degraded in all of the alcohols studied. The amount of linters solubilized during the degradations tended to increase as the molecular weight of the alcohol used increased. It appeared that, in the study made, the cellulose was being degraded by hydrolysis caused by the traces of water present. The acidified alcohols combined with the reducing groups formed to give a degraded cellulose with a low reducing value. The residual reducing power was lowest when methanol was used.