Chitin
Description
A tough, protective natural substance composed of a Nitrogen containing Polysaccharide. Chitin is the principal component in seashells as well as the exoskeletons of crabs, lobsters, insects, and Beetles. It is also found in the cell walls of some Fungi, Algae, and Yeasts. Chitin is inelastic, thus growing arthropods and insects must shed their exoskeletons periodically. When chitin is combined with Calcium carbonate, as in the shells of crustaceans and mollusks, chitin produces a much stronger composite that is harder and stiffer than pure chitin, and is tougher and less brittle than pure calcium carbonate. For commercial use, chitin is deacetylated with sodium hydroxide to form chitosan.
Synonyms and Related Terms
kitin (Dan.); Chitin (Deut.); quitina (Esp., Port.); chitine (Fr., Ned.); chitina (It.); chityna (Pol.)
Related term: chitosan
Risks
- ThermoFisher: SDS
Physical and Chemical Properties
Soluble in concentrated mineral acids. Insoluble in common solvents.
| Composition | (C8H13NO5)n |
|---|---|
| CAS | 1398-61-4 |
Resources and Citations
- Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993
- Walter C. McCrone, John Gustave Delly, The Particle Atlas, W. McCrone Associates, Chicago, IV, 1972
- Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976
- The Merck Index, Martha Windholz (ed.), Merck Research Labs, Rahway NJ, 10th edition, 1983 Comment: entry 2105
- Wikipedia: Chitin (accessed (Sept. 2, 2005 and June 2025)
- Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997
- The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998
- Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000