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Novikov V. Yu., Dolgopyatova N. V., Konovalova I. N., Kuchina Yu. A., Glukharev A. Yu., Derkach S. R.
Synthesis and characteristics of carboxymethylated chitin derivatives from the shells of king crab and snow crab
DOI: 10.21443/1560-9278-2026-29-3-347-360
Abstract. Chitin is the second most common natural polymer after cellulose being the main component of the exoskeletons of marine crustaceans, such as crabs, lobsters, and shrimp. Chitosan and carboxymethylated chitin derivatives are non-toxic, have biocompatibility, biological activity, and exhibit antibacterial, immunostimulating, antitumor, wound-healing and other properties. The unique properties of this biopolymer and its derivatives determine their wide use in the food industry, medicine, pharmaceuticals, cosmetology, agriculture, chemistry and catalysis, biotechnology and aquaculture. The goal of our research is to develop a method for producing a chitin derivative, carboxymethyl chitin, with good solubility in water. The raw material used is chitosan obtained from the shells of king crab and opilio snow crab caught in the Barents Sea. The necessary technological conditions for the acetylation of chitosan and subsequent carboxymethylation of chitin have been established. Studies of the resulting carboxymethyl chitin by conductometric titration have shown that the content of carboxymethyl groups is 38 %. The solubility of carboxymethyl chitin obtained by the developed method increases with increasing pH and at pH 8.0 it is about 82 % by weight of the polymer. Studies of X-ray phase analysis data show that the degree of crystallinity of the original chitosan, acetylated and carboxymethylated samples differs slightly and amounts to 52–57 %. Carboxymethyl chitin, obtained from the snow crab shell, is characterized by a wide molecular weight distribution according to high-performance liquid chromatography. The presence of six main fractions with molecular weights from 0.05 to 656 kDa is discovered, the largest contribution (67 %) of which is made by a fraction with a low molecular weight (35 kDa). The conducted research may be useful for enterprises involved in the industrial extraction and complex processing of crabs to solve problems of non-waste use of raw materials and obtain additional commercially in demand products.
Printed reference: Synthesis and characteristics of carboxymethylated chitin derivatives from the shells of king crab and snow crab / V. Novikov, N. Dolgopyatova, I. Konovalova, Yu. Kuchina, A. Glukharev, S. Derkach // Vestnik of MSTU. 2026. V. 29, No 3. P. 347-360.
Electronic reference: Synthesis and characteristics of carboxymethylated chitin derivatives from the shells of king crab and snow crab / V. Novikov, N. Dolgopyatova, I. Konovalova, Yu. Kuchina, A. Glukharev, S. Derkach // Vestnik of MSTU. 2026. V. 29, No 3. P. 347-360. URL: https://vestnik.mauniver.ru/v29_3_n109/03_Novikov_347-360.pdf.
