HEATS OF REACTION OF 2 COMMON CELLULOSE SOLVENTS WITH VARIOUS MODEL COMPOUNDS

In the reported experiments, the heats of reaction of two common cellulose solvents, cadoxen and ferric sodium tartrate (FeTNa), with a variety of cellulose-related compounds were obtained with a sensitive adiabatic microcalorimeter. Both solvents require adjacent hydroxyl groups in the equatorial positions of ring systems for maximum reactivity (or maximum exothermic heat of reaction). The cellulose solvent cuprammonium has a significantly different pattern of reactivity toward a number of sugars compared with the patterns observed for cadoxen and FeTNa. These differences are explained in terms of the Jahn-Teller effect and the preferred sites of reaction and oxidation in ring systems. Calorimetric evidence indicates that complexes containing methoxy groups may be formed by both cadoxen and FeTNa.