Synthesis of graft copolymers based on chitin and chitosan via ring-opening graft copolymerization of lactide

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Graft copolymers based on chitin, chitosan and their derivatives were synthesized as environmentally conformable polymeric materials. Chitin-graft-poly(lactic acid) and chitosan- graft-poly(lactic acid) were obtained via ring-opening graft copolymerization of lactide onto polysaccharides. However, the molar substitution (MS) of these copolymers, defined as an average number of introduced lactil units, were so low that physical properties of chitin and chitosan were not improved. On the other hand, phthaloyl chitosan-graft-poly(lactic acid) having comparatively high value of lactyl MS was successfully synthesized. For this copolymer, several marked changes in physical properties, such as solubility and thermal transition behavior, were confirmed.