UEBER CELLULOSE.

G. Bumcke und R. Wolffenstein (Berl. Ber., 1899, 2493).

(p. 54) Theoretical Preface.—The purpose of these investigations is the closer characterisation of the products known as 'oxycellulose' and 'hydracellulose,' which are empirical aggregates obtained by various processes of oxidation and hydrolysis; these processes act concurrently in the production of the oxycelluloses. The action of hydrogen peroxide was specially investigated. An oxycellulose resulted possessing strongly marked aldehydic characteristics. The authors commit themselves to an explanation of this paradoxical result, i.e. the production of a body of strongly 'reducing' properties by the action of an oxidising agent upon the inert cellulose molecule (? aggregate) as due to the hydrolytic action of the peroxide: following Wurster (Ber. 22, 145), who similarly explained the production of reducing sugars from cane sugar by the action of the peroxide.

The product in question is accordingly termed hydralcellulose. By the action of alkalis this is resolved into two bodies of alcoholic (cellulose) and acid ('acid cellulose') characteristics respectively. The latter in drying passes into a lactone. The acid product is also obtained from cellulose by the action of alkaline lye (boiling 30 p.ct. NaOH) and by solution in Schweizer's reagent.

It is considered probable that the cellulose nitrates are hydrocellulose derivatives, and experimental evidence in favour of this conclusion is supplied by the results of 'nitrating' the celluloses and their oxy- and hydro- derivatives. Identical products were obtained.

Experimental investigations.—The filter paper employed as 'original cellulose,' giving the following numbers on analysis:

	C	44.56	44.29	44.53	44.56
	H	6.39	6.31	6.46	6.42

was exposed to the action of pure distilled H₂O₂ at 4-60 p.ct. strength, at ordinary temperatures until disintegrated: a result requiring from nineteen to thirty days. The series of products gave the following analytical results:

	C	43.61	43.61	43.46	43.89	44.0	43.87	43.92	43.81
	H	6.00	6.29	6.28	6.26	6.13	6.27	6.24	6.27

results lying between the requirements of the formulæ:

5 C₆H₁₀O₅.H₂O and 8 C₆H₁₀O₅.H₂O.

Hydrazones were obtained with 1.7-1.8 p.ct. N. Treated with caustic soda solution the hydrazones were dissolved in part: on reprecipitation a hydrazone of unaltered composition was obtained. The original product shows therefore a uniform distribution of the reactive CO- groups.

The hydralcellulose boiled with Fehling's solution reduced 1/12 of the amount required for an equal weight of glucose.

Digested with caustic soda solution it yielded 33 p.ct. of its weight of the soluble 'acid cellulose.' This product was purified and analysed with the following result: C 43.35 H 6.5. For the direct production of the 'acid' derivative, cellulose was boiled with successive quantities of 30 p.ct. NaOH until dissolved. It required eight treatments of one hour's duration. On adding sulphuric acid to the solutions the product was precipitated. Yield 40 p.ct. Analyses:

	C	43.8	43.8	43.7
	H	6.2	6.2	6.3

The cellulose reprecipitated from solution in Schweizer's reagent gave similar analytical results:

	C	43.9	43.8	44.0
	H	6.5	6.3	6.4

Conversion into nitrates.—The original cellulose, hydral- and acid cellulose were each treated with 10 times their weight of HNO₃ of 1.48 sp.gr. and heated at 85° until the solution lost its initial viscosity.

The products were precipitated by water and purified by solution in acetone from which two fractions were recovered, the one being relatively insoluble in ethyl alcohol. The various nitrates from the several original products proved to be of almost identical composition,

C 32.0 H 4.2 N 8.8

with a molecular weight approximately 1350. The conclusion is that these products are all derivatives of a 'hydralcellulose' 6 C₆H₁₀O₅H₂O.