title: Biobased and Sustainable Alternative Route to Long-Chain Cellulose Esters.
abstract: Fatty acid cellulose esters (FACEs), which have been identified recently as sustainable film materials, are conventionally synthesized by the use of the reaction with acyl chloride/anhydride pyridine in the presence of LiCl/N,N-dimethylacetamide. In this study, we have developed a new synthetic route to FACEs using a vinyl ester of long chain fatty acid, which is an excellent biobased and highly reactive reagent, for the functionalization of cellulose. The developed method involves the synthesis of the long aliphatic fatty acid vinyl ester via a transition-metal-catalyzed transvinylation reaction between vinyl acetate and the fatty acid, followed by its subsequent reaction with cellulose to yield FACEs. In this work, we have used vinyl oleate as a model precursor to introduce the fatty acid chain to cellulose. The covalent grafting of the fatty acid chain to the free hydroxyl groups of cellulose was achieved through potassium carbonate (K2CO3)-catalyzed transesterification of vinyl oleate in the presence of N-methyl pyrrolidone as solvent with low toxicity. Successful functionalization of cellulose was confirmed by FTIR,13C CP-MAS NMR, X-ray diffraction, and the thermogravimetric analysis. The results obtained showed that the functionalization efficiency of the cellulose increased with higher temperature and prolonged reaction times. The strategy proposed in the present work is an important step onward in terms of sustainability because the long-chain vinyl ester can be synthesized from a renewable and biobased source, and the toxic and corrosive chemicals commonly employed for cellulose esterification are avoided.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forest Products/Wood Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences , Box 7008, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0173-9467
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jebrane
authors.affiliation: Department of Forest Products/Wood Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences , Box 7008, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Nasko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Terziev
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics , Akadeemia tee 23, 12618 Tallinn, Estonia.
authors.forename: Ivo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Heinmaa
mesh_terms: D002384:Catalysis; D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry*; D004951:Esterification; D004952:Esters / Q000737:chemistry*; D009829:Oleic Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D014753:Vinyl Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004952:Esters; D009829:Oleic Acids; D014753:Vinyl Compounds; D002482:Cellulose; C011566:vinyl acetate