ABSTRACT

Chitin is a very abundant polysaccharide, next only to cellulose. It consists of an amino sugar N-acetyl glucosamine, which is partially de-acetylated. N-acetylglucosamine is used extensively in the treatment of osteoarthritis, waste water treatment, cosmetics, drug delivery, heavy metal chelation, heterogeneous catalysts and much other attractive utilization. It is of industrial importance to derive N-acetyl D-glucosamine from chitin and chitosan substrates. Traditionally, concentrated solutions of hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid, and an alkaline-ice mixture were used to dissolve chitin but these conditions are usually corrosive rendering chitin unstable when it undergoes hydrolysis.We propose a novel ionic liquid pretreatment of chitin followed by enzymatic hydrolysis. Ionic liquids have shown potential as unique solvents for a variety of substrates with wide range of solubility, miscibility, and other physicochemical properties. The substrates used in this study were chitin and chitosan (derived from crab shells). Ionic liquid treatment in past has been studied for the dissolution of polysaccharides like chitin and chitosan [1], to increase the rates of the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose [2]. The effect of dissolution of chitin and its effect on the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis using commercially available enzymes will be investigated in detail.

References:

1.S.Z.a.S.L. Haibo Xie, Chitin and Chitosan dissolved in ionic liquids as reversible sorbents of carbon dioxide. Green chemistry, 8 2006 630-633. 2.A. Dadi, P., S. Varanasi, and C.A. Schall, Enhancement of cellulose saccharification kinetics using an ionic liquid pretreatment step. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 95 (5) 2006 904-910.