title: Selective Modification of Chitin and Chitosan: En Route to Tailored Oligosaccharides.
abstract: Chitin and chitosan are attractive biopolymers with enormous structural possibilities for chemical modification, creating platforms for new chemical entities with a broad scope of applications, ranging from material science to medicine. During the last few years, incredible efforts have been dedicated to the regioselective modification of these biopolymers paving the way for improved properties and tailored activities. Herein, the most recent advances in chitin/chitosan regioselective modification, reaction conditions, selectivity, and the impact on its applications are highlighted. Moreover, the recent focus on chitooligosaccharides, their regioselective and chemoselective functionalization, as well as their role in biological studies, including molecular recognition with several biological targets are also covered.
authors.affiliation: LAQV@REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campus de Caparica, 2829-516, Caparica, Portugal.
authors.forename: Luísa C R
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.affiliation: LAQV@REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campus de Caparica, 2829-516, Caparica, Portugal.
authors.forename: Fausto
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Queda
authors.affiliation: LAQV@REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campus de Caparica, 2829-516, Caparica, Portugal.
authors.forename: Cátia V Almeida
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: LAQV@REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campus de Caparica, 2829-516, Caparica, Portugal.
authors.forename: M Manuel B
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6712-752X
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Marques
mesh_terms: D000215:Acylation; D000478:Alkylation; D001704:Biopolymers / Q000737:chemistry; D002686:Chitin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D013237:Stereoisomerism
chemical_list: D001704:Biopolymers; D009844:Oligosaccharides; C493484:oligochitosan; D002686:Chitin; D048271:Chitosan
keywords: chemical modification; chitin; chitooligosaccharides; chitosan; regioselective protection