A Facile Route for Regioselective Conjugation of Organo-Soluble Polymers onto Chitosan

A facile route is described for the regioselective conjugation of organo-soluble polymers onto chitosan under very mild conditions, using SCC as intermediates. SCC could be prepared simply by mixing chitosan acidic aqueous solution with SDS. PEG or PCL were then grafted to SCC using the NHS/DCC coupling method. In addition, the polymers were found to be linked to chitosan through the hydroxyl groups of chitosan when stoichiometric SCC was used as a precursor. SDS could be removed simply by either precipitating the solution of SCC-graft-polymer in DMSO into Tris aqueous solution or dialyzing against Tris solution.