Cellulose is a substance that dominates terrestrial life and is resistant to degradation. However, nature has developed biocatalysts that work heterogeneously to modify and hydrolyze cellulose substrates. Synthetic catalysts also have an important role in conversion of cellulose into derivatives with various substitution patterns. One example is found with nanocellulose materials that are produced using 2,2,6,6-Tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy (TEMPO) mediated oxidation of cellulose pulp, converting C6 surface hydroxyls into carboxylic acid groups. The further advantage to this material are that carboxylic acid groups serve as “handles” that can be modified with a number of chemistries to enable functionalization for many applications. On the heels of this work, we developed a surprisingly efficient method of tethering catalysts to nanoparticles for the modification of cellulose pulp fibers. The efficacy of the catalyst is retained while nanoparticles enable recycling of the catalyst, as well as limits the release of it into wastewater effluent.

Heterogeneous catalysts for the regioselective modification of cellulose

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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