Preparation of water-soluble chitosan

An improved method of preparing water soluble chitosan was studied by N‐acetylation with acetic anhydride. Its merits were a simple processing technique, very short reaction time, little agent, high molecular weight of the product, and good water solubility. This article not only discusses the effect of several factors, such as the amount of reactants, concentration of hydrogen ions in the solution, and solvent system, on N‐acetylation but also some influential factors on the water solubility of N‐acetylated chitosan. Experiments showed that the amount of acetic anhydride was the most important factor affecting the N‐acetylation degree of the chitosan. The effect of the means of adding materials and the amount of solvent on the reaction could not be ignored. The solubility of half N‐acetylated chitosan was not changed with an increase in the molecular weight in water, and the water solubility decreased with increasing molecular weight in the alkaline region. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 91: 3497–3503, 2004