Abstract
With the depletion of petroleum, a new source of feedstock chemicals for polymers is needed. The new source should be a renewable source to avoid future depletion and environmental impact. A potential source of new feedstock chemicals is chitin. The use of ionic liquids for the dissolution of chitin has enabled new processing methods for this biopolymer. Recent results demonstrate that chitin can be depolymerizes in ionic liquid. The products of this depolymerization are N-acetylglucosamine and a furfural derivative. This research investigates the use of ionic liquids and various acid catalysts for the depolymerization of chitin into its monomer units. This research evaluates the effects of temperature, the nature of the catalyst, and solvent effects on the depolymerization of chitin.