Function of sheets of cellulose chains in swelling reactions on cellulose

Abstract An x‐ray investigation of the products formed by the action of caustic soda on different samples of cellulose and those formed on the decomposition of these products by aqueous reagents and alchols shows that the fundamental reacting unit is a sheet of cellulose chains, and not individual cellulose chains. Although the caustic soda can affect the relative dispositions of the chains within these sheets to some extent, it cannot separate the chains, and the products then depend on the aggregation of the cellulose sheets with or without other molecules between them. Such aggregation leads to variables products whose x‐ray diagrams can, however, show distinct reflections and be mistaken for those from more precise crystal structures. It is, therefore, important in swelling reactions to take into account the ability of the swelling agent to modify the cellulose sheets and the mode of decomposition of the complexes formed on swelling. Thus swelling with caustic soda cannot be taken as typical of all aqueous swelling reagents in its reaction towards cellulose, and the possibility with other reagents of finding cellulose I, instead of cellulose II, after a series of swelling reactions must be taken into consideration.