Chemistry of Wood

Thompson, R. (1991), The Chemistry of Wood Preservation, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge. 

Sarkanen, K. V. Wood Lignins. In Browning, B. L. (Editor) The Chemistry of Wood. Interscience Publishers, New York-London, 1963, pp. 249-311. 

In spite of the minimal applications of computational chemistry to the chemistry of wood, the techniques have become highly developed and sophisticated in their ability to calculate chemical properties for a wide variety of compound classes. Methods based on quantum mechanics, commonly referred to as molecular orbital calculations, have been the topic of numerous books, reviews, and research papers (7,8,9,10). These techniques are concerned with the description of electronic motion, and the solution of the Schrddinger equation to determine the energy of molecular systems. Since the exact solution of the Schrddinger equation is only possible for two-particle systems, approximations must be invoked for even the simplest organic molecules. 

Isenberg, I. H. "The Structure of Wood in The Chemistry of Wood" edited by B. L. Browning. Interscience Publishers,... 

Browning, B. L. Editor. "The Chemistry of Wood" Interscience Publishers, John Wiley and Sons. New York, New York. 1963. 

Continuing basic research is needed in the pyrolysis, combustion, and fire chemistry of wood leading toward the... 

Timell, T. E. (1965). Wood and bark polysaccharides. In "Cellular Ultrastructure of Woody Plants" (W. A. C6te, Jr., ed.), pp. 127-156. Syracuse Univ. Press, Syracuse, New York. Timell, T. E. (1967). Recent progress in the chemistry of wood hemicelluloses. Wood Sci. Technol. 1,45-70. 

Maga, J. A., The flavor chemistry of wood smoke. Food Reviews International, 1987, 3(1 2) 139. 

A number of other delignilicatioii procedures have been devised in which the primary objective has been to obtain, for various purposes, a measure of the total-carbohydrate fraction. These procedures have employed as the active delignifyiiig agents such materials as nitric acid, monoethanola-miiie H. 178 other amines, neutral hypochlorite, acid hypochlorite, etc. These methods have recently been discussed by Browning and by Jahn. Although such procedures are of general interest, their application has not yielded much information that could be considered fundamental to an understanding of the chemistry of wood cellulose. Neither have these procedures become important in the commercial production of wood cellulose. 

There almost seems to be a stigma associated with wood chemistry. Some members of the scientific community feel that because wood has been used for so long, we must surely know all there is to know about it. And besides, it is such a variable material with inconsistent properties that it does not require a high level of sophistication in its research approach. Using a material and understanding it are a world apart Wood will never reach its highest use potential until we fully describe it, understand the mechanisms that control its properties, and, finally, are able to manipulate those properties to suit our needs. Because the properties of wood are the results of the chemistry of wood, this manipulation is possible only through wood chemistry research. 

Extraneous Components. The extraneous components (extractives and ash) in wood are the substances other than cellulose, hemi-celluloses, and lignin. They do not contribute to the cell wall structure, and most are soluble in neutral solvents. The detailed chemistry of wood extractives can be found elsewhere (26). A review of extractives in eastern U.S. hardwoods is available (27). 

This chapter presents a theoretical model to explain the relationship between the mechanical properties and the chemical components of wood. This model is then used to describe the effects of altered composition on those mechanical properties. Many of the theories presented are unproven. They should be considered as a starting point for dialogue between chemists and engineers that will eventually lead to a better understanding of the chemistry of wood strength. 

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