title: Microwave mediated rapid synthesis of chitosan.
abstract: Chitosan is synthesized by deacetylating chitin with NaOH solution under microwave irradiation. The process describes a rapid synthesis procedure in comparison to conventional methods. The microwave-synthesized chitosan was characterized by Ninhydrin test, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements. The experimental results show that the degree of deacetylation increased with increasing irradiation time. A degree of deacetylation of 85.3% was achieved after irradiating chitin with 45% NaOH solution in a microwave for 5.5 min at 900-watt power. This method can be very useful for synthesizing low molecular weight chitosan with rapid and clean chemistry.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, 781039, Assam, India.
authors.forename: Abhishek
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sahu
authors.forename: Pranab
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Goswami
authors.forename: Utpal
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Bora
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation / Q000528:radiation effects; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000528:radiation effects; D002686:Chitin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000528:radiation effects; D048271:Chitosan / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000528:radiation effects; D008872:Microwaves; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009555:Ninhydrin; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D002686:Chitin; D048271:Chitosan; D009555:Ninhydrin