TITLE:
O-Alkylation of Chitosan for Gene Delivery by Using Ionic Liquid in an in- situ Reactor
AUTHORS:
Huiying Chen, Shaohui Cui, Yinan Zhao, Bing Wang, Shubiao Zhang, Huiying Chen, Xiaojun Peng
KEYWORDS:
Gene Delivery; Chitosan; Alkylation; Ionic Liquid; Iu-Situ Reactor
JOURNAL NAME:
Engineering,
Vol.4 No.10B,
October
21,
2013
ABSTRACT: An in-situ reactor was elaborately designed for O-alkylation of
chitosan in an ionic liquid ([BMIM]Cl) solvent, using N,
N'-carbonyldiimidazole as bonding agent. The original chitosan and the
modified chitosan were characterized by FT-IR and XRD analysis. FT-IR spectra
revealed that the alkylation of chitosan selectively occurred at hydroxyl
groups, with unprotected amino groups untouched. It was proposed that the
particular properties of the ionic liquid solvent should be responsible for the
selectively alkylation. The result from X-ray diffraction showed that the
crystallinity of O-alkylation of chitosan decreases, most likely due to the
decomposition of CS in the ionic liquid. The solubility test of O-alkylated
chitosan in aqueous HAc solution (w/w: 0.1%) confirmed that the product could be
easily dissolved in aqueous HAc solution because of its abundant free amino
groups. It was suggested that the O-alkylated chitosan was suitable for the
coming cell transfection test in vitro.