%0 Journal Article
%T Kinetics of N-Deacetylation of Chitin Extracted from Shrimp Shells Collected from Coastal Area of Morocco
%A Hammou Ahlafi
%J Mediterranean Journal of Chemistry
%D 2013
%I MedJChem S.A
%X Chitosan was obtained from the alkaline N-deacetylation of  -chitin, derived from shrimp shells (SS) collected from the Moroccan coast. Effects of temperature, NaOH concentration and reaction time on the kinetics of deacetylation were studied. The degree of deacetylation (DD = 75%) was obtained at T = 120 ¡ãC and CNaOH = 12N in a single step for 6h. It was found, from FTIR studies, that the removal of acetyl groups from chitin occur very fast for the reaction time t < 180 min and then becomes constant after, revealing two steps in the deacetylation of chitin following a first-order kinetics for each of them. The second step is considered the limiting step that has, in the temperature range of 25 ¨C 120 ¡ãC and maintained CNaOH = 12N, a low apparent rate constant. The activation energy of this step is about 48.76 kJ/mol. The biopolymer (Chitin and chitosan) produced were characterized by X-ray diffraction.
%K chitin
%K chitosan
%K N-deacetylation
%K FTIR spectra
%K degree of deacetylation
%K kinetics.
%U http://medjchem.com/images/stories/V2N3/mjcahlafi2.pdf