Preparation and utilization of esterified woods bearing carboxyl groups

Summary Preparation and utilization of esterified woods bearing carboxyl groups are reviewed. The esterified woods are prepared by the addition reactions of wood with dicarboxylic acid anhydrides in the presence or absence of a solvent such as dimethylformamide. The reactions without solvent are industrially advantageous and can give esterified woods with a wide range of monoester contents. The esterified woods can be molded into sheets by hot pressing. By addition reactions of the esterified woods with epoxide, or epoxide and anhydride at high temperatures, epoxide-adducted esterified woods and oligoesterified woods are obtained. These can also be molded by hot pressing. The addition of epoxide to esterified woods results in an improvement in moisture resistance of the molded sheets. When esterified woods are subjected to crosslinking reactions with bisepoxide both at high temperatures and under high pressures, the wood components plasticize to give reddish brown, yellowish brown, or blackish brown crosslinked wood boards whose surfaces are smooth, glossy, and plastic-like. Among the plastic-like crosslinked wood boards, the phthalic anhydride-based board shows the best physical properties. Especially, this board exhibits very high compressive strength and water resistance.