Kinetics of heterogeneous cyanoethylation of cellulose

Heterogeneous sodium and potassium hydroxide‐catalysed cyanoethylation of cotton linter and viscose grade wood pulp, investigated by analysing the nitrogen content of the cyanoethylated product as a function of the time of reaction, were shown to follow a first‐order rate equation. A new procedure was elaborated and a computer program was written to estimate the number of hydroxyl groups accessible for cyanoethylation per anhydroglucose unit and the specific rate constant from the rate curves. The effect of the type of alkali, its solution‐to‐cellulose ratio, temperature of reaction, mode of agitation, and the degree of polymerisation and packing density of cellulose fibres on the kinetics of cyanoethylation reaction were investigated.