The complete utilization of the renewable raw materials,
hemicelluloses and gums, is facilitated if they are made
thermoplastic for easier processing and better thermal
stability, and esterification is a possible way of achieving
a thermoplastic hemicellulose-based material. Other reasons
for esterification are to reduce the water absorbency of
the hydrophilic hemicelluloses, to increase solubility, and
to reduce crystallinity. Hemicelluloses can be esterified
under either heterogeneous or homogeneous conditions.
Heterogeneous esterification can be performed in water,
but it gives, e.g., poor uniformity of substitution, low yield,
by-product formation, and unfavorable reaction kinetics.
On the other hand, homogeneous reaction conditions
require specific organic solvents or alkaline solutions. It
is difficult to esterify hemicelluloses of the xylan type, the
most frequently occurring hemicellulose, because xylan has
only two hydroxyl groups available for esterification compared
to cellulose, which has three. Some ester structures
are shown in Sch. 1.