New polymers from cellulose sulphonates

The paper reports some highlights in the synthesis and subsequent modifications of cellulose sulphonates in order to design specific polysaccharide structures useful for supramolecular assemblies. A homogeneous procedure yields pure products with unusual solubility and fluorescence activity as well as being usable for thermally induced phase separation processes. The acylation of remaining hydroxyl groups leads to lipophilic cellulosics which form ultrathin layers by means of the Langmuir-Blodgett technique. Water-soluble tosyl cellulose sulphates build up multilayer assemblies by interaction with multivalent cations. Nucleophilic displacement reactions were studied as well.