CHEMISTRY AND APPLICATION OF CHITIN AND CHITOSAN

Organosoluble derivatives of chitin were prepared and used as precurso rs for regioselective and quantitative chemical modifications. Based o n these precursors, various sugar groups could be introduced to prepar e nonnatural branched chitins and chitosans. With a view to establishi ng a new route to facile modifications, reactivity of beta-chitin was examined and confirmed to be much higher than that of ordinary alpha-c hitin. The resulting chitin derivatives were evaluated in terms of aff inity for solvents, lysozyme susceptibility, and antimicrobial activit y, and the effects of substituents were discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier S cience Limited. All rights reserved.