Collect. Czech. Chem. Commun. 1980, 45, 2847-2854
https://doi.org/10.1135/cccc19802847

Preparation of p-aminobenzyl cellulose and its utilization for immobilization of enzymes

Peter Gemeiner, Ľudovít Kuniak and Jiří Zemek

Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 809 33 Bratislava

Abstract

The O-alkylation of non cross-linked celluloses with p-nitrobenzyl chloride according to Campbell does not afford satisfying results (alkylation degree Da ⪬ 0.025). On the other hand, the use of cross-linked celluloses makes it possible to prepare p-nitrobenzyl cellulose under substantially milder reaction conditions (Da ⪬ 0.42); the degree of cross linking of cellulose considerably affected the Da of p-nitrobenzyl cellulose. The same also holds for O-alkylation of cross-linked celluloses with p-nitrobenzyl chloride according to Hakomori. Reduction of p-nitrobenzyl cellulose with dithionite is considerably associated with side reactions in which sulfur became embodied, whereas reduction with titanous chloride resulted in noticeable losses of p-nitrobenzyl groups. p-Aminobenzyl cellulose is, after activation with carboxyl groups, a suitable carrier for immobilization of enzymes as acetylcholinesterase, glucoamylase and α-amylase. The respective immobilized enzymes retained relatively high relative activities, in the last two cases also for high-molecular substrates.