Kinetics of the Reactions of Ethyleneurea Derivatives with Cotton Cellulose

Abstract

The kineties of the reactions of cotton print cloth treated with 0.55 M solutions of 4.5-dihydroxy-1,3-bis(hydroxymethyl)-2-imidazolidinone (dimethyloldihydroxyethylene urea) in the presence of 0.03 M inorganic salt catalysts have been investigated. The present two-stage delayed-cure process for chemically modifying the performance of cellulosic fabrics depends on the significant differences in reactivities of cellu lose with methylol functional groups and with the hydroxyl groups of the urea derivatives. Specific reaction rate constants at 45, 55, 65, 75, and 85°C in the presence of ZnCl₂, Zn(NO₃)₂, MgCl ₂, and Mg(NO₃)₂ have been calculated by following the changes in nitrogen and formaldehyde contents and the changes in crease recovery properties of finished fabrics. These rates have been compared with those determined when cotton retets with an etherifying agent having ring hydroxyls only, as in the cellulose-dihydroxy ethyleneurea reactions, and with those determined when the etherifying agent has methylol hydroxyls only, as in the cellulose-dimethylolethyleneurea reactions. Enthalpies, entropies, and free energies of activation have been compared.