Exploiting Chitin as a Source of Biologically Fixed Nitrogen: Formation and Full Characterization of Small-Molecule Hetero- and Carbocyclic Pyrolysis Products

Pyrolysis of variously pretreated or untreated samples of chitin (1) and certain congeners at 150-350 degrees C afforded a range of platform molecules, as exemplified by compounds 4, 5, 6, 8, 12 and 13. All of these products have been fully characterized, including by single-crystal X-ray analysis. Pathways for the formation of them are proposed and theoretical studies of certain aspects of these described.