Cellulose derivatives modified by sodium tellurate and a chromium(III) tellurate complex

A novel cellulose (Cell) derivative, sodium-tellurato (Cell-TeO(OH)4(ONa)/Cell-Cl), has been synthesized from the reaction of 6-chloro-6-deoxycellulose (Cell-Cl) with telluric acid in the presence of sodium hydroxide. The subsequent reaction of this polymeric material with chromium(III) in aqueous solution yields the [Cr(Cell-TeO3(OH)3/Cell-Cl)(Cell-TeO2(OH)4/Cell-Cl)(H2O)3] complex. The molecular structures and morphology of the new polymer and the Cr(III) complex have been examined using elemental analysis, solid-state 13C NMR, UV-vis, XRD and FTIR spectroscopy, and SEM-EDX, TGA and magnetic measurements. The results are considered to be consistent with the formulations proposed. The deprotonation constants of the modified cellulose and the stability constant of the Cr(III) complex have been determined by pH-metric measurements.