Chemical reactivity of heat-treated wood

Chemical reactivity of heat-treated wood was compared with that of untreated wood. For this purpose, heat-treated pine or beech sawdust was reacted with different carboxylic acid anhydrides in pyridine or with phenyl isocyanate in dimethyl formamide. Compared to controls, weight gains obtained with heat-treated sawdust are smaller showing a lower chemical reactivity. FTIR analyses of lignin and holocellulose fractions, isolated after acidic hydrolysis of polysaccharides or delignification with sodium chlorite, indicate that both components are involved in the reactions. Compared to lignin, holocellulose exhibits important infrared absorptions of about 1,730 cm(-1), characteristic of ester or urethane linkages formed. Lower reactivity of heat-treated sawdust is explained by the decrease in free reactive hydroxyl groups in holocellulose due to the thermal degradation of hemicelluloses, considered more reactive than cellulose.