(8) Degree of N-acetylation
1. The degree of N-acetylation in chitin : the ratio of 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-
glucopyranose to 2-amino-2-deoxy-D-glucopyranose structural units
2. This ratio has a striking effect on chitin solubility and solution properties
3. In chitin, the acetylated units prevail (degree of acetylation typically is 0.90)
4. Chitosan is the fully or partially N- deacetylated derivative of chitin with
a typical degree of acetylation of less than 0.35
(9) Molecular weight
1. Chitosan molecular weight distributions
① HPLC
② Light scattering
③ Viscometry
2. The weight-average molecular weight of chitin is 1.03×106 to 2.5×106
- The N-deacetylation reaction reduces this to 1×105 to 5×105