title: Application of spectroscopic methods for structural analysis of chitin and chitosan.
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.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Sobieskiego 18/19, PL-80-952 Gdansk, Poland. kumirska@chem.univ.gda.pl
authors.forename: Jolanta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kumirska
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Czerwicka
authors.forename: Zbigniew
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kaczyński
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bychowska
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brzozowski
authors.forename: Jorg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thöming
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stepnowski
mesh_terms: D002686:Chitin / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D015394:Molecular Structure; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared / Q000379:methods; D013057:Spectrum Analysis / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D002686:Chitin; D048271:Chitosan