The singular experience of how carboxylate groups on hemicellulose can impede divalent cation motion through strong ionic bonds illustrates potential strategies for modulating diffusion in woody tissues. For instance, modifying hemicellulose synthesis to eliminate carboxylates would likely lead to accelerated cation diffusion, as the cations would not interact as strongly with a carbonyl or hydroxyl as they would with the carboxylate. Similarly, lignin acetylation would be expected to make lignin even more hydrophobic than it already is, altering transport dynamics . Further study on both the experimental and modeling frontiers will be needed to couple together cell wall chemistry to the impact on dynamics at the molecular level.