Rapid esterification of wheat straw hemicelluloses induced by microwave irradiation

Esterification of wheat straw hemicelluloses with acetyl chloride, propionyl chloride, n-octanoyl chloride, lauroyl chloride, palmitoyl chloride, stearoyl chloride, and oleoyl chloride, respectively, using N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) as a catalyst was achieved in DMF/LICI medium by microwave irradiation. The effects of various acyl chlorides and the molar ratios of xylose units in hemicelluloses/acyl chloride on the degree of substitution (DS) were investigated and DS reached up to 1.34 by a few minutes. C-13 NMR studies showed that the esterification occurred preferentially at the C-3 and C-2 positions. On the other hand, microwave irradiation brought a partial degradation of the polymer, and therefore resulted in a slight decrease in thermal stability of the hemicellulosic derivatives in comparison with conventional heating technique. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.