The first report on a convenient synthesis of novel reactive amphiphilic polysaccharides

New amphiphiles with reactive tosylate groups and ionic sulfuric acid half esters based on the rod-like polysaccharide cellulose were designed via homogeneous tosylation followed by sulfation with the SO₃-pyridine complex in N,N-dimethylacetamide. At appropriate degrees of functionalization the polymers are soluble both in water and dimethyl sulfoxide, and they are promising starting materials for self-organizing systems.