KINETICS OF HETEROGENEOUS CYANOETHYLATION OF CELLULOSE

Heterogeneous sodium and potassium hydroxide-catalysed cyanoethylation of cotton linter and viscose grade wood pulp, investigated by analysi ng the nitrogen content of the cyanoethylated product as a function of the time of reaction, were shown to follow a first-order rate equatio n. A new procedure was elaborated and a computer program was written t o estimate the number of hydroxyl groups accessible for cyanoethylatio n per anhydroglucose unit and the specific rate constant from the rate curves. The effect of the type of alkali, its solution-to-cellulose r atio, temperature of reaction, mode of agitation, and the degree of po lymerisation and packing density of cellulose fibres on the kinetics o f cyanoethylation reaction were investigated.