NMR analysis of cellulose dissolved in aqueous NaOH solutions

Low molecular weight cellulose (degree of polymerization = ca 15) was dissolved in 4-- 30% NaOD/D2O, and relationships between 1H- and 13C-chemical shifts of the cellulose and NaOD concentrations were studied in terms of the dissociation of three hydroxyl groups of cellulose in aqueous NaOH solutions. All C---H proton resonances were shifted upfield linearly with an increase in the NaOD concentration, indicating that all C---H protons of cellulose undergo the electron-shielding effect by NaOH. On the other hand, the shifting patterns of carbon resonances varied among the six carbons: C1 and C4 carbons undergo the electron-shielding effect, whereas C2, C3, C5, and C6 carbons experience the electron-deshielding effect by NaOH. Changes in 13C-chemical shifts of cellulose carbons in 4--30% NaOD/D2O indicate that C3---OH has the highest resistance to dissociation in aqueous NaOH of the three hydroxyl groups of an anhydroglucose residue. It is plausible, at least from the aspects of 13C-chemical shifts, that cellulose molecules dissolving in 20--30% NaOH behave differently from those swollen in 20--30% NaOH as alkali- cellulose