The effect of deuteration on the structure of bacterial cellulose

In vivo generated deuterated bacterial cellulose, cultivated from 100% deuterated glycerol in D2O medium, was analyzed for deuterium incorporation by ionic liquid dissolution and (2)H and (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). A solution NMR method of the dissolved cellulose was used to determine that this bacterial cellulose had 85% deuterium incorporation. Acetylation and (1)H and (2)H NMR of deuterated bacterial cellulose indicated near equal deuteration at all sites of the glucopyranosyl ring except C-6 which was partly deuterated. Despite the high level of deuterium incorporation no significant differences in the molecular and morphological properties were observed for the deuterated and protio bacterial cellulose samples. The highly deuterated bacterial cellulose presented here can be used as a model substrate for studying cellulose biopolymer properties via future small angle neutron scattering (SANS) studies.