Abstract
Chemical modification of chitosan is increasingly studied for its potential of providing new applications of chitosan. Here, a group of novel chitosan quaternary ammonium derivatives containing pyridine or amino-pyridine were designed and successfully synthesized through chemical modification of chitosan. Pyridine and amino-pyridine were used as functional groups to improve the antifungal activity of chitosan derivatives. The chitosan derivatives’ antioxidant activity against hydroxyl-radical and 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)-radical was tested in vitro. The results showed that chitosan derivatives had better water solubility and stronger antioxidant activity compared with chitosan in all assays. Especially, compounds 3C and 3E (with 3-amino pyridine and 2,3-diamino pyridine as substitute respectively) exhibited stronger hydroxyl-radical and DPPH-radical scavenging ability than other synthesized compounds. These data demonstrated that the synergistic effect of the amino group and pyridine would improve the antioxidant activity of chitosan derivatives, and the position of the amino group on pyridine could influence the antioxidant property of chitosan derivatives.
Highlights
As metabolic products of the human body, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are a great threat to health [1]
N-trimethyl quaternary ammonium chitosan (1) was selected as an intermediate to protect the amino group of chitosan and prompt solubility of the synthesized chitosan derivatives
It was found that the synthesized chitosan derivatives had better water solubility and stronger antioxidant activity compared with chitosan in all assays
Summary
As metabolic products of the human body, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are a great threat to health [1]. It was found that ROS concentrations in blood were strongly related to various pathological events such as aging, cellular injury, and DNA degradation. ROS can cause pathological damages such as cancer disease, diabetes, atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, and many other diseases associated with aging to the organism, and lead to harmful alterations in foods and the pharmaceutical industry [3,4]. The use of synthetic antioxidants, such as butylated hydroxyanisole, butylated hydroxytoluene, and propylgallate, has potential health hazards [5]. It is of great interest among researchers to develop antioxidant supplements to help the human body reduce oxidative scratch and to search for natural antioxidants as alternatives to synthetic ones
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