GLUCOSAMINE OLIGOMERS .4. SOLID-STATE CRYSTALLIZATION AND SUSTAINED DISSOLUTION

When glucosamine oligomers are stored in the solid state they undergo a process of crystallization. The extent to which this occurs depends on whether the samples are isolated in the -NH3+ or -NH2 form, on the storage time, and on the degree of polymerization of the isolated oligomer. The allomorph obtained by this process seems to correspond to the so-called 'tendon-chitosan'. Dissolution of such aged oligomer samples gives rise to a process of dissociation of the associated chains in the crystal, leading to the establishment of a pseudo-equilibrium between single and associated oligomer chains and hence the simultaneous presence of the 'monomeric', 'dimeric', 'trimeric', etc., forms of the oligomer. The phenomenon cannot be attributed to a process of aggregation in solution. The effects of various parameters on this behaviour have been investigated.