Xylan from birch wood was characterized regarding both the supramolecular structure (X-ray, CP/MAS 13 C-NMR) and the sugar composition. The reaction of the birch wood xylan with 2,3-epoxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride in 1,2dimethoxyethane as slurry medium yields water-soluble, cationic 2-hydroxypropyltrimethylammonium xylan derivatives with high degree of substitution (DS). The DS values up to 1.6 can be controlled by adjusting the molar ratio in a one step synthesis. The structure of the cationic xylan derivatives was confirmed by means of DEPT(135) NMR spectroscopy. Film forming properties of cationic xylan derivatives were investigated with SEM measurements.

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Summary:The hemicellulose xylan is a polysaccharide that occurs in nature in enormous amount in various one year-and perennial plants having different structures and molecular masses. Versatile ways to generate bio-based functional polymers result from the chemical modification of this biopolymer. In our research, xylans from various resources like birch-, beech-, and eucalyptus wood and from oat husk, rye bran, and corn cob were used to investigate the important method of carboxymethylation in detail. Different activation procedures were elaborated to synthesize carboxymethyl xylan. One step reactions lead to products with a degree of substitution (DS) from 0.13 to 1.22 in dependence on the molar ratio of anhydroxylose unit (AXU) to reagent. Two step syntheses yielded DS values up to 1.65. Carboxymethyl xylans are water soluble at a DS of 0.3. The solutions have different clearness depending on the provenience. NMR spectroscopy and HPL chromatography were applied to characterize the carboxymethyl xylans in detail.

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