Eco-friendly microwave-assisted protocol to prepare hyaluronan-fatty acid conjugates and to induce their self-assembly process

•Microwave-assisted solid-state modification of a natural polysaccharide.•Deep investigation of the reaction parameters to acylate the hyaluronan alcoholic functions with oleic and linoleic acids.•Eco-friendly nano-particle preparation.

An environmentally sustainable and energy-efficient synthetic process has been developed to prepare hyaluronan-based nano-sized material. It consists in a microwave-promoted acylation of the hydroxyl function of the polysaccharide with natural fatty acids, performed under solvent-free conditions. The efficient interaction of the solid reagents with the MW radiation accounts for the obtained high yielded products. The self-assembly process of the obtained compounds very fast occurred in an aqueous medium under MW-radiation, thus allowing the development of a green protocol for the nano-particles preparation.