Conformational and optical properties of macromolecules of some aliphatic-substituted cellulose esters

Synthesized cellulose pelargonates, tridecanoates, valerates, and acetovalerates of various molecular weights are studied in chloroform, dioxane, and tetrachloroethane solutions by the methods of isothermal translational diffusion, sedimentation velocity method, flow birefringence (dynamooptical Maxwell effect), viscometry, and equilibrium electric birefringence (Kerr effect). The equilibrium polymer rigidities are determined and the role of the solvent and temperature in the formation of the conformational characteristics of the macromolecules under study is analyzed. The values of the intrinsic optical anisotropy of the monomeric units of the studied cellulose esters are experimentally determined. The contribution of the side chains to the optical anisotropy of the macromolecules of cellulose esters with aliphatic substituents is analyzed. The results obtained in this study are compared with the data on the cellulose esters with the aliphatic side substituents studied earlier. For the studied samples, the values of the longitudinal components of the monomeric unit dipoles in a nonpolar solvent are estimated.