An innovative method for oxidative degradation of chitosan with molecular oxygen catalyzed by metal phthalocyanine in neutral ionic liquid

A novel aqueous solution–ionic liquid biphasic catalytic system was established for the oxidative degradation of chitosan under mild conditions. In this process, the environmentally acceptable and inexpensive molecular oxygen was first used as oxidant, the metal phthalocyanine was immobilized in ionic liquid as catalyst, and the aqueous solution as medium carried the reactants and the products. Under vigorous stirring and heating, the reactants fully contacted the catalysts in the emulsion and chitosan efficiently degraded into water-soluble materials. At the end of the reaction, the catalytic system could be easily separated by simple decantation and could also be reused in subsequent runs without apparent change in activity. These characters are in favor of the elimination of pollution and the reduction of the economic cost in the large-scale production of the water-soluble chitosan derivatives in chemical industry.

A novel ionic liquid–water liquid–liquid biphasic catalytic reaction system is introduced to degrade chitosan with the environmentally acceptable and inexpensive molecular oxygen as oxidant and the metal phthalocyanine immobilized in ionic liquid as catalyst.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide