Abstract
Chitin, the second most important natural polymer in the world, and its N-deacetylated derivative chitosan, have been identified as versatile biopolymers for a broad range of applications in medicine, agriculture and the food industry. Two of the main reasons for this are firstly the unique chemical, physicochemical and biological properties of chitin and chitosan, and secondly the unlimited supply of raw materials for their production. These polymers exhibit widely differing physicochemical properties depending on the chitin source and the conditions of chitosan production. The presence of reactive functional groups as well as the polysaccharide nature of these biopolymers enables them to undergo diverse chemical modifications. A complete chemical and physicochemical characterization of chitin, chitosan and their derivatives is not possible without using spectroscopic techniques. This review focuses on the application of spectroscopic methods for the structural analysis of these compounds.
Highlights
Chitin, the second most abundant natural polymer in the world, functions as a natural structural polysaccharide [1]
UV-Vis techniques were useful for determining the structure of many chitin/chitosan derivatives, for example, chitosan hydrogel membranes obtained by UV- and γ-radiation [196], substituted polyaniline/chitosan composites [163], chitosan-L-glutamic acid aerogel derivatives [144], fluorescent chitosan derivatives containing substituted naphthalimides [197] and dendritic polyaniline nanoparticles synthesized by carboxymethyl chitin templating [103]
In order to acquire a deeper understanding of the mechanism of these properties, it is necessary for chitin/chitosan and their derivatives to be structurally and physicochemically well characterized
Summary
The second most abundant natural polymer in the world, functions as a natural structural polysaccharide [1]. Differences in the chitosan production process (e.g., temperature, alkali concentration, ratio of alkali solutions to the shells) mean that chitosan preparations consist of a mixture of chitosans varying in molecular weight and degree of N-acetylation. Those produced from chitin may contain impurities such as heavy metals, protein residues and acid/alkaline residues. The most important techniques are X-ray spectroscopy, infrared (IR) and UV-Vis-spectroscopy, mass spectrometry (MS), and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) The usefulness of these methods for determining and confirming molecular structures, for monitoring reactions and controlling the purity of these compounds is discussed. Application of Spectroscopic Methods for Analyzing the Structure and Determining the Physicochemical Properties of Chitin, Chitosan and Their Derivatives
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