Synthesis of new cellulose ethers using Suzuki–Miyaura reactions

•We developed new conditions for the synthesis of cellulose ethers.•The coupling reactions are carried out in mild, moisture- and air-stable conditions.•Cellulose ethers bearing various functionalities can be obtained in excellent yields.•Various sensitive functional groups can be grafted on the cellulose backbones.•Cellulose ethers are obtained with good to excellent degrees of grafting.

Cellulose ethers are functionalized biopolymers that are industrially produced through drastic conditions employing gaseous reactants with a high risk of industrial accident. The cellulose ethers that are commercially available generally bear short carbon-chains. In this work, an alternative method using non-gaseous chemicals is proposed. It relies on the use of the Suzuki–Miyaura reaction employing mild, moisture- and air-stable conditions. Relatively innocuous reagents are used for this step, which allows the formation of a wide range of cellulose ethers bearing various functional groups with different chain-length.