Acetylation of wheat straw hemicelluloses in N,N-dimethylacetamide/LiCl solvent system

Hemicellulose acetates were prepared under homogeneous reaction conditions in the system N,N-dimethylacetamide/lithium chloride by reacting the native hemicelluloses with acetic anhydride in the presence of 4-dimethylaminopyridine within 72 h at 60–85°C. The products obtained were characterised by means of Fourier transform infrared chromatography, gel permeation chromatography, and thermal analysis. The degree of substitution of acetylated hemicelluloses ranged between 0.74 and 1.49 as a function of experimental conditions. Under an optimum reaction condition (85°C, 60 h), over 80% hydroxyl groups in native hemicelluloses were acetylated. The molecular weight measurements showed that a significant degradation and hydrolysis of the products appeared at only a prolonging period of 72 h. It was found that the thermal stability of the products increased by esterification.