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SynopsisA heretofore uninvestigated approach to the production of cellulose acetate, the acetylation of whole wood pulp with subsequent isolation of the cellulose derivative by differential solubility, is described. The mechanical pulp used was produced by refining aspen wood chips with a disc refiner. Two conventional acetylation techniques, the fibrous and solution process, were employed to acetylate all components of the pulp. The cellulose acetate was isolated from the acetylated lignin and hemicellulose by dissolving in dichloromethane/methanol (9 : 1, v/v). The advantage of this new approach is that the high cost involved in using an extensively purified dissolving pulp are avoided. Both acetylation techniques yielded a product that was about 84% cellulose acetate.The remaining acetylated components were lignin and hemicellulose. The yield of cellulose acetate, based on the cellulase content of the original pulp and the product, was 75-804%.

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