Preparation, multi-scale structures, and functionalities of acetylated starch: An updated review

Acetylated starch has been widely used as food additives. However, there was limited information available regarding the impact of acetylation on starch structure and functionalities, as well as the advanced acetylation technologies. This review aimed to summarize current methods for starch acetylation and discuss the structure and functionalities of acetylated starch. Innovative techniques, such as milling, microwave, pulsed electric fields, ultrasonic, and extrusion, could be employed for environmental-friendly synthesis of acetylated starch. Acetylation led to the degradation of starch structures and weakening of the interactions between starch molecules, resulting in the disorganization of starch multi-scale ordered structure. The introduction of acetyl groups retarded the self-reassembly behavior of starch, leading to increased solubility, clarity, and softness of starch-based hydrogels. Moreover, the acetyl groups improved water/oil absorption capacity, emulsifiability, film-forming properties, and colonic fermentability of starch, while reduced the susceptibility of starch molecules to enzymes. Importantly, starch functionalities were largely influenced by the decoration of acetyl groups on starch molecules, while the impact of multi-scale ordered structures on starch physicochemical properties was relatively minor. These findings will aid in the design of structured acetylated starch with desirable functionalities.

Organocatalytic acetylation of pea starch: Effect of alkanoyl and tartaryl groups on starch acetate performance

Organocatalytic acetylation of pea starch was systematically optimized using tartaric acid as catalyst. The effect of the degree of substitution with alkanoyl (DSacyl) and tartaryl groups (DStar) on thermal and moisture resistivity, and film-forming properties was investigated. Pea starch with DSacyl from 0.03 to 2.8 was successfully developed at more efficient reaction rates than acetylated maize starch. Nevertheless, longer reaction time resulted in granule surface roughness, loss of birefringence, hydrolytic degradation, and a DStar up to 0.5. Solid-state 13C NMR and SEC-MALS-RI suggested that tartaryl groups formed crosslinked di-starch tartrate. Acetylation increased the hydrophobicity, degradation temperature (by ~17 %), and glass transition temperature (by up to ~38 %) of pea starch. The use of organocatalytically-acetylated pea starch with DSacyl ≤ 0.39 generated starch-based biofilms with higher tensile and water barrier properties. Nevertheless, at higher DS, the incompatibility between highly acetylated and native pea starches resulted in a heterogenous/microporous structure that worsened film properties.

On the nanoscopic structural heterogeneity of liquid n-alkyl carboxylic acids

Herein we report the first in-depth structural characterisation of simple linear carboxylic acids with alkyl tail length ranging from one to six carbon atoms. By means of the SWAXS technique, a pronounced nanoscopic heterogeneity evolving along the aliphatic portion of the molecule is highlighted. Via classical molecular dynamics, the origin of such heterogeneity is unambiguously assigned to the existence of aliphatic domains resulting from the self-segregation of the polar and apolar portions of the molecules. Furthermore, the structural correlation of aliphatic-separated polar domains is responsible for observing the so-called "pre-peak" in the SAXS region.

A Solid-State Pathway towards the Tunable Carboxylation of Cellulosic Fabrics: Controlling the Surface's Acidity

We report on a tunable solid-state approach to modify the acidity of cotton substrates using citric, oxalic, and fumaric acids. The first stage of the method involves soaking the cotton swatches in an ethanolic saturated solution of the corresponding acid. After drying, the carboxylation reaction proceeds at high temperature (T > 100 °C) and in solid state. We quantified the effect of temperature and reaction time on the solid-state carboxylation reaction, which allowed us to tune the carboxylation degree and the acidity of the surface. We characterized the modified cotton by performing adsorption isotherms and by determining the kinetics of adsorption of a cationic dye: methylene blue (MB). We found that the MB uptake kinetics varied as a function of the acidic strength of the surface, which is closely related to the strength of the acid used for surface modification. The proposed solid-state cotton carboxylation procedure allows us to achieve sustainable cotton modification, which constitutes a starting point for several applications using cotton as the substrate.

Reactive compatibilization of plant polysaccharides and biobased polymers: Review on current strategies, expectations and reality

Our society is amidst a technological revolution towards a sustainable economy, focused on the development of biobased products in virtually all sectors. In this context, plant polysaccharides, as the most abundant macromolecules present in biomass represent a fundamental renewable resource for the replacement of fossil-based polymeric materials in commodity and engineering applications. However, native polysaccharides have several disadvantages compared to their synthetic counterparts, including reduced thermal stability, moisture absorption and limited mechanical performance, which hinder their direct application in native form in advanced material systems. Thus, polysaccharides are generally used in a derivatized form and/or in combination with other biobased polymers, requiring the compatibilization of such blends and composites. In this review we critically explore the current status and the future outlook of reactive compatibilization strategies of the most common plant polysaccharides in blends with biobased polymers. The chemical processes for the modification and compatibilization of starch and lignocellulosic based materials are discussed, together with the practical implementation of these reactive compatibilization strategies with special emphasis on reactive extrusion. The efficiency of these strategies is critically discussed in the context on the definition of blending and compatibilization from a polymer physics standpoint; this relies on the detailed evaluation of the chemical structure of the constituent plant polysaccharides and biobased polymers, the morphology of the heterogeneous polymeric blends, and their macroscopic behavior, in terms of rheological and mechanical properties.

Tunable intramolecular H-bonding promotes benzoic acid activity in polymerization: inspiration from nature

Intramolecular H-bonding of ortho-amido group(s) tuned benzoic acid into strong Brønsted acid active in ring-opening polymerizations of lactones and trimethylene carbonate at room temperature in solutions.

Towards Tartaric-Acid-Derived Asymmetric Organocatalysts

Tartaric acid is one of the most prominent naturally occurring chiral compounds. Whereas its application in the production of chiral ligands for metal-catalysed reactions has been exhaustively investigated, its potential to provide new organocatalysts has been less extensively explored. Nevertheless, some impressive results, such as the use of TADDOLs as chiral H-bonding catalysts or of tartrate-derived asymmetric quaternary ammonium salt catalysts, have been reported over the last decade. The goal of this article is to provide a representative overview of the potential and the limitations of tartaric acid or TADDOLs in the creation of new organocatalysts and to highlight some of the most spectacular applications of these catalysts, as well as to summarize case studies in which other classes of chiral backbones were better suited.

N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) as organocatalysts and structural components in metal-free polymer synthesis

The chemistry of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) has witnessed tremendous development in the past two decades: NHCs have not only become versatile ligands for transition metals, but have also emerged as powerful organic catalysts in molecular chemistry and, more recently, in metal-free polymer synthesis. To understand the success of NHCs, this review first presents the electronic properties of NHCs, their main synthetic methods, their handling, and their reactivity. Their ability to activate key functional groups (e.g. aldehydes, esters, heterocycles, silyl ketene acetals, alcohols) is then discussed in the context of molecular chemistry. Focus has been placed on the activation of substrates finding analogies with monomers (e.g. bis-aldehydes, multi-isocyanates, cyclic esters, epoxides, N-carboxyanhydrides, etc.) and/or initiators (e.g. hydroxy- or trimethylsilyl-containing reagents) employed in such "organopolymerisation" reactions utilizing NHCs. A variety of metal-free polymers, including aliphatic polyesters and polyethers, poly(α-peptoid)s, poly(meth)acrylates, polyurethanes, or polysiloxanes can be obtained in this way. The last section covers the use of NHCs as structural components of the polymer chain. Indeed, NHC-based photoinitiators, chain transfer agents or functionalizing agents, as well as bifunctional NHC monomer substrates, can also serve for metal-free polymer synthesis.

Enantioselective boronate additions to N-acyl quinoliniums catalyzed by tartaric acid

Tartaric acid catalyzes the asymmetric addition of vinylboronates to N-acyl quinoliniums, affording highly enantioenriched dihydroquinolines. The catalyst serves to activate the boronate through a ligand-exchange reaction and generates the N-acyl quinolinium in situ from the stable quinoline-derived N,O-acetal.