Alpha cellulose isolation

Determinations on separately isolated alpha-cellulose preparations. ... 

Cellulose can be isolated from raw cotton by cutting the cotton Enters into short lengths and extracting them in a Soxhlet with chloroform for 18 hr, followed by treatment with 95% ethanol for another 18 hr. This removes the waxes. The fiber is then boiled for 8 hr with 1% (w/v) sodium hydroxide (2 g cotton/100 mL) in a nitrogen atmosphere. This removes the small amount of pectin. The cotton is then washed with water until neutral, and then sequentially treated with acetone, ethanol, and ether, followed by drying under vacuo at 20°C [51]. The resulting product is called alpha cellulose. 

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