Crosslinked carboxymethyl corn starch (CMS) was prepared in a completely heterogeneous procedure in a ethanol/water slurry activated with aqueous sodium hydroxide and ammonium chloride using monochloroacetic acid as the etherifying agent. The influence of the composition of the reaction mixture, the reaction time and temperature on the degree of substitution(DS) the rate of swelling(RS) and the reaction efficiency(RE) was studied. The product can be used as disintegrating agent. The best ratio of the raw ma...