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Abstract
A widely used method of determining the aldehyde groups in chemically modified celluloses consists in measuring the amount of iodine consumed from an alkaline solution in the oxidation of these groups to carboxyl groups. This method has been critically examined in a study of the action of various alkaline iodine solutions on cotton cellulose, several hydrocelluloses, and a periodate oxycellulose. The effects of pH, temperature, and potassium iodide concentration, on the stability of these solutions, and on their action on the cellulose materials have been investigated. The aldehyde groups in hydrocelluloses cannot be estimated in this way because they are not all oxidized by the reagent, and because the consumption of iodine by processes other than the conversion of aldehyde to carboxyl groups cannot be completely eliminated or allowed for. The method is even more unsatisfactory with periodate oxycelluloses because these alkali-sensitive materials suffer chain-scission as well as oxidation in the alkaline solutions.