The alkane dithioether and the polysulfide crosslinking of cellulose

Abstract

AbstractNew crosslinked cellulose derivatives were obtained from the reactions of potassium disulfide and n‐alkane‐α‐ω‐dithiols with partial tosyl or brosyl esters of native cellulose. Treated cotton print cloth showed significant improvement in wet and dry wrinkle recovery over untreated. Alkane dithioether crosslinks, —S(CH2)nS—, of different lengths (2–10 CH2 groups) were introduced. Treatment with aqueous or ethanolic solutions of potassium disulfide resulted in the formation of polysulfide crosslinks, such as tetrasulfide. The effect of crosslink length on the physical properties of the modified cottons was studied, and it was found that fabric wrinkle recovery tended to decrease as crosslink length increased. It was also found that the tosyl and brosyl cellulose esters were degraded by alkali. This degradation is ascribed to the loss of primary sulfonyloxy groups with subsequent hydrofuranol ring formation in the case of the anhydroglucose units involved.