Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Cristalografía y Mineralogía (Unidad Asociada al ICP-CSIC), Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Teatinos, 29071 Malaga, Spain.
Molecules. 2020 Sep 1;25(17):3981. doi: 10.3390/molecules25173981.
Although chitin is of the most available biopolymers on Earth its uses and applications are limited due to its low solubility. The deacetylation of chitin leads to chitosan. This biopolymer, composed of randomly distributed β-(1-4)-linked D-units, has better physicochemical properties due to the facts that it is possible to dissolve this biopolymer under acidic conditions, it can adopt several conformations or structures and it can be functionalized with a wide range of functional groups to modulate its superficial composition to a specific application. Chitosan is considered a highly biocompatible biopolymer due to its biodegradability, bioadhesivity and bioactivity in such a way this biopolymer displays a wide range of applications. Thus, chitosan is a promising biopolymer for numerous applications in the biomedical field (skin, bone, tissue engineering, artificial kidneys, nerves, livers, wound healing). This biopolymer is also employed to trap both organic compounds and dyes or for the selective separation of binary mixtures. In addition, chitosan can also be used as catalyst or can be used as starting molecule to obtain high added value products. Considering these premises, this review is focused on the structure and modification of chitosan as well as its uses and applications.
尽管甲壳素是地球上最丰富的生物聚合物之一，但由于其溶解度低，其用途和应用受到限制。甲壳素的脱乙酰化导致壳聚糖的形成。这种生物聚合物由随机分布的β-(1-4)-连接的 D 单元组成，由于可以在酸性条件下溶解这种生物聚合物，它可以采用多种构象或结构，并且可以用广泛的官能团进行功能化，以调节其表面组成以适应特定的应用，因此具有更好的物理化学性质。壳聚糖由于其生物降解性、生物粘附性和生物活性而被认为是一种高度生物相容的生物聚合物，这种生物聚合物具有广泛的应用。因此，壳聚糖是一种很有前途的生物聚合物，可用于生物医学领域的许多应用（皮肤、骨骼、组织工程、人工肾脏、神经、肝脏、伤口愈合）。该生物聚合物还可用于捕获有机化合物和染料，或用于二元混合物的选择性分离。此外，壳聚糖还可用作催化剂，或用作获得高附加值产品的起始分子。考虑到这些前提，本综述重点介绍了壳聚糖的结构和改性及其用途和应用。
