Ionic pullulan gels and production thereof

Claim 1

A process for producing ionic pullulan gels characterized by the steps of (1) reacting pullulan with a compound of the formula, X.sub.1 --R.sub.1 --Y wherein X 1 and Y are each a halogen atom or an epoxy group, and R 1 is an aliphatic group having 1 to 30 carbon atoms which may have 1 to 2 hydroxyl groups or an oxygen atom in the carbon chain, in the presence of an alkali metal hydroxide or organic amine, and then (2) reacting the resulting crosslinked water-swellable pullulan gel with a compound selected from the group consisting of 2-dimethylaminoethyl chloride, 2-diethylaminoethyl chloride, 2-dimethylaminoisopropyl chloride, 2-bromo-5-diethylaminopentane, 2-diphenylaminoethyl chloride, 2-(N,N-dimethylphenylamino)ethyl chloride, 3-amino-1,2-epoxypropane, 3-dimethylamino-1,2-epoxypropane, 3-diethylamino-1,2-epoxypropane, 3-dibutylamino-1,2-epoxypropane, 3-diphenylamino-1,2-epoxypropane, 3-(N,N-dimethylphenylamino)-1,2-epoxypropane, N,N-(2,3-epoxypropyl)methylaniline, inorganic acid salts or alkyl halide salts thereof, chloroacetic acid, bromoacetic acid, chloropropionic acid, salts thereof, chloromethanesulfonic acid, bromoethanesulfonic acid, chloroethanesulfonic acid and salts thereof in the presence of an alkali metal hydroxide, alkaline earth metal hydroxide or organic amine.