Abstract
A degradation-profile technique has been developed for the qualitative analysis of water-soluble cellulosic ethers. The technique, is based on mass spectra obtained by thermal degradation of the ethers in a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The method allows direct comparisons of two or more of the modified cellulosic products. Differences in the profiles of methyl, hydroryethyl, and hydroxypropyl cellulose are evident. The method has been used initially to establish that certain ethers contain polypropylene glycol additives and to demonstrate that other ethers are chemically modified by propoxylation. Eight samples, representing a cross section of commercial products have been studied. The profile technique for identification is valid only when applied to samples of water-soluble celluloses and when all spectra are obtained under the same operating conditions.
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