during the past few years a growing interest has developed in controlled-activity or controlled-release polymeric pesticide systems. advantages of these systems include increased efficiency of pesticide delivery requiring fewer applications, more effective control of the target organism, and reduced adverse impact on nontarget organisms in the surrounding environment. the synthesis of a number of polymeric pesticides from naturally occurring polysaccharides under homogeneous reaction conditions is now reported. it is believed that similar procedures will allow preparation of a number of derivatives of cellulose, chitin, and other polysaccharides. the solvent system utilized for these reactions--a lithium chloride or lithium bromide salt in n, n-dimethylacetamide (dmac)--not only allows dissolution of the reactant polysaccharide but also facilitates analysis of the polymer product by such techniques as ir, uv, nmr, and gpc. lithium salts in solvents with high-solubility parameters have been used in the past to dissolve strongly hydrogen-bonded polyamides and polysaccharides for viscosity studies and for preparation of films or fibers (copyright (c) 1979 john wiley && sons, inc.)