Biginelli reaction on cellulose acetoacetate: a new approach for versatile cellulose derivatives

The Biginelli multicomponent reaction has been used as an effective and model method to efficiently prepare a library of cellulose derivatives based on cellulose acetoacetate (CAA). Various cellulose derivatives containing 3, 4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1 H)-ones (DHPMs) with different functional groups (carboxyl, methoxyl, and nitro) are synthesized. The entire reaction process is followed using FT-IR, ¹H NMR. The results demonstrate that more than 80% of the acetoacetyl groups are converted within four hours. Additionally, all the cellulose derivatives are confirmed to have favorable thermostability and good solubility in selected solvents. Furthermore, polymers (in this case, poly (ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether (mPEG)) can also be anchored to the cellulose backbone via this facile modular approach. Therefore, the Biginelli multicomponent reaction offers a straightforward method for diverse and large-scale cellulose derivatization. These results are expected to prompt broader study of this multicomponent reaction in interdisciplinary fields.