Acetylation of Silk Fibroin by the Action of Ketene

Abstract

am convinced by nineteen years of close association with scientists, although with no scientific education, that the greatest gift to the country, of research, and of the chemical 2ndustries, will be the spread of that scientific h,abit of thought zn the sal,u~tio~z of our national, our local and our personal p)-oblenzs, The search for truth shall set its f ree.&dquo; IIoN. FRANCIS

The etherification of hydroxyamino-acid residues in silk fibroin by dimethyl sulphate

“…the -OH groups of nearly all the tyrosine and about one-half of the serine residues) are free in intact fibroin. For the tyrosine, this conclusion is consistent with the phenolic colour reactions of fibroin, and with the data of Rutherford et al [1940] on methylation, of Meyer, Fuld & Klemm [1940] on coupling with diazo compounds, and of Kise & Carr [1936] and Carr [1938 a, b] on acetylation. Serine residues having free -OH groups might be expected to take part in the alkaline degradation and coupling reactions demonstrated in whole silk by Nicolet & Shinn [1941 a, b].…”

Acetylated Casein Fiber

“…Elliott and Speakman (3) recently described such a process based on treatment with acetic anhydride and glacial acetic acid in the presence of sulfuric acid. Kise and Carr (7) studied the acetylation of silk fibroin with ketene. Up to 7.3% acetyl content was obtained, depending on the duration of exposure to ketene, but the fibers were colored tan to brown.…”