STRUCTURE OF O-(2-HYDROXYETHYL)CELLULOSES WITH HIGH DEGREES OF MOLAR SUBSTITUTION - A CRITICAL-EVALUATION

Methylation analysis complete with GLC-MS of three O-(2-hydroxyethyl)celluloses with degrees of molar substitution (ms) of 1.73, 2.44, and 3.56, determined by hydrolysis with hydriodic acid, revealed at least 35 new monomeric compounds. Except for S33333, all of the isomers up to the monomers with ms 5 have been identified and quantified by GLC. The ms, degree of substitution (ds), positional ds, and the ms and ds distribution of the monomers have been derived. The resulting ms values were 1.89, 2.30, and 3.39, and the ds values were 1.21, 1.34, and 2.06, respectively. The relative reaction constants for HO-2,3,6 have been computed and that for HO-2 appears not to vary. These calculated constants have been used to determine the homogeneity of the substituent distribution.