Method for the production of substituted polysaccharides via reactive extrusion

1. A process for the acetylation of a polysaccharide via reactive extrusion to form a polysaccharide acetate, the process comprising:

(a) forming an extrusion mixture comprising the polysaccharide, acetic anhydride, and iodine, wherein the polysaccharide is selected from the group consisting of a starch and a cellulose, and wherein the extrusion mixture has a weight ratio of acetic anhydride to polysaccharide is in the range from about 0.5 to about 5, and wherein the amount of iodine is in the range from about 0.04 to about 3% by weight of the acetic anhydride;

(b) feeding the extrusion mixture into an extruder, wherein the extruder has a number of kneading blocks in the range from 1 to 7 and a number of compression screws in the range from 5 to 12; and

(c) extruding the extrusion mixture to acetylate the polysaccharide and form an extrudate comprising the polysaccharide acetate, wherein the extruding step has a duration in the range from about 2 to about 7 minutes and further comprises maintaining the extruder at a temperature in the range from about 100 to about 190° C., and wherein the polysaccharide acetate has a degree of substitution (DS) in the range from about 0.1 to 1, and wherein the acetylation reaction has a reaction efficiency (RE) that is in the range of about 5% to about 80%.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein:

the weight ratio of acetic anhydride to polysaccharide is in the range from about 0.75 to about 3, and the amount of iodine is in the range from about 0.1 to about 1% by weight of the acetic anhydride;

number of extruder kneading blocks is in the range from 2 to 5 and the number of extruder compression screws is in the range from 6 to 9; and

the extruding step duration is in the range from about 3 to about 4 minutes and the extruder temperature is in the range from about 145 to about 165° C.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the extruder is a twin-screw extruder having an exit with a cross-sectional area that is at least 80% of the cross-sectional area of the extrusion chamber.

4. The process of claim 1 further comprising grinding the extrudate, washing the ground extrudate with ethanol, water, or both and drying the water-washed extrudate.

5. The process of claim 4 , wherein the washing of the ground extrudate further comprises washing with sodium thiosulfate.

6. A process for the acetylation of a polysaccharide via reactive extrusion to form a polysaccharide acetate, the process comprising:

(a) forming an extrusion mixture comprising the polysaccharide, acetic anhydride, and iodine, wherein the polysaccharide is selected from the group consisting of a starch and a cellulose, and wherein the extrusion mixture has a weight ratio of acetic anhydride to polysaccharide is in the range from about 0.8 to about 6.5, the amount of iodine is in the range from about 0.1 to about 5% by weight of the acetic anhydride;

(b) feeding the extrusion mixture into an extruder, wherein the extruder has a number of kneading blocks in the range from 1 to 7 and a number of compression screws in the range from 5 to 12; and

(c) extruding the extrusion mixture to acetylate the polysaccharide and form an extrudate comprising the polysaccharide acetate, wherein the extruding step has a duration in the range from about 2 to about 7 minutes and further comprises maintaining the extruder at a temperature in the range from about 100 to about 190° C., and wherein the polysaccharide acetate has a degree of substitution (DS) that is in the range from about 1 to about 2, and wherein the acetylation reaction has a reaction efficiency (RE) that is in the range of about 5% to about 80%.

7. The process of claim 6 , wherein:

the weight ratio of acetic anhydride to polysaccharide is in the range from about 1 to about 4, and the amount of iodine is in the range from about 0.3 to about 2% by weight of the acetic anhydride;

the number of extruder kneading blocks is in the range from 3 to 5 and the number of extruder compression screws is in the range from 7 to 12; and

wherein the extruding step duration is in the range from about 3 to about 6 minutes and the extruder temperature is in the range from about 145 to about 165° C.

8. The process of claim 6 , wherein the extruder is a twin-screw extruder having an exit with a cross-sectional area that is at least 80% of the cross-sectional area of the extrusion chamber.

9. The process of claim 6 further comprising grinding the extrudate, washing the ground extrudate with ethanol, water, or both and drying the water-washed extrudate.

10. The process of claim 9 , wherein the washing of the ground extrudate further comprises washing with sodium thiosulfate.

11. A process for the acetylation of a polysaccharide via reactive extrusion to form a polysaccharide acetate, the process comprising:

(a) forming an extrusion mixture comprising the polysaccharide, acetic anhydride, and iodine, wherein the polysaccharide is selected from the group consisting of a starch and a cellulose, and wherein the extrusion mixture has a weight ratio of acetic anhydride to polysaccharide is in the range from about 1.25 to about 8, the amount of iodine is in the range from about 0.2 to about 5% by weight of the acetic anhydride,

(b) feeding the extrusion mixture into an extruder, wherein the extruder has a number of kneading blocks in the range from 1 to 7 and a number of compression screws in the range from 5 to 12; and

(c) extruding the extrusion mixture to acetylate the polysaccharide and form an extrudate comprising the polysaccharide acetate, wherein the extruding step has a duration in the range from about 2 to about 7 minutes and further comprises maintaining the extruder at a temperature in the range from about 100 to about 190° C., and wherein polysaccharide acetate has a degree of substitution (DS) that is in the range from about 2 to 3, and wherein the acetylation reaction has a reaction efficiency (RE) that is in the range of about 5% to about 80%.

12. The process of claim 11 , wherein:

the weight ratio of acetic anhydride to polysaccharide is in the range from about 1.5 to about 5, and the amount of iodine is in the range from about 0.5 to about 3% by weight of the acetic anhydride;

the number of extruder kneading blocks is in the range from 3 to 6 and the number of extruder compression screws is in the range from 8 to 12; and

the extruding step duration is in the range from about 4 to about 7 minutes and the extruder temperature is in the range from about 155 to about 175° C.

13. The process of claim 11 , wherein the extruder is a twin-screw extruder having an exit with a cross-sectional area that is at least 80% of the cross-sectional area of the extrusion chamber.

14. The process of claim 11 further comprising grinding the extrudate, washing the ground extrudate with ethanol, water, or both and drying the water-washed extrudate.

15. The process of claim 14 , wherein the washing of the ground extrudate further comprises washing with sodium thiosulfate.