<unk>  does not occur naturally and is synthetically produced by heating<unk>  with caustic solution (e.g. a solution of sodium hydroxide) and treating it with methyl chloride. In the substitution reaction that follows, the hydroxyl residues (-OH functional groups) are replaced by methoxide (-OCH3 groups). Different kinds of<unk>  can be prepared depending on the number of hydroxyl groups substituted.<unk>  is a polymer consisting of numerous linked glucose molecules, each of which exposes three hydroxyl groups. The Degree of Substitution (DS) of a given form of<unk>  is defined as the average number of substituted hydroxyl groups per glucose. The theoretical maximum is thus a DS of 3.0, however more typical values are 1.3–2.6. Different<unk>  preparations can also differ in the average length of their polymer backbones.
Methyl cellulose
Chitosan
Cerebroside
Polymethylsiloxane polyhydrate
Lecithin
Glucomannan
Glycoside
Spirolactone