Extraction and characterization of an alginate from the Iranian brown seaweed Nizimuddinia zanardini.

Sodium alginate from Nizimuddinia zanardini (an Iranian brown algae) was extracted with acid and alkaline solutions, partially and totally hydrolyzed and analyzed for its biochemical composition. H NMR spectroscopy, SEC-MALLS, HPAEC and FT-IR were performed to determine its structure and its physico-chemical properties. This alginate has a M/G ratio of 1.

Curdlan microspheres. Synthesis, characterization and interaction with proteins (enzymes, vaccines).

Microparticles of curdlan, synthesized through crosslinking with epichlorohydrin in organic suspension media, were chemically modified with the aim of introducing strongly and/or weakly acidic anionic and palmitoyl hydrophobic groups. Microparticles of both curdlan and curdlan derivatives were physico-chemically characterized. Study of the interaction with enzymes, such as lysozyme, and vaccines, such as tetanus anatoxin, showed a co-operative protein retention effect, induced by electrostatic and hydrophobic forces.

Synthesis of chitosan microspheres containing pendant cyclodextrin moieties and their interaction with biological active molecules.

A new route to obtain chitosan derivatives containing cyclodextrin moieties as pendant groups was developed. The chitosan microspheres, obtained through crosslinking with glutaraldehyde of an acetic acid solution of chitosan, in an organic suspension medium, were reacted with chloroacyl cyclodextrins in organic basic solvents. The acyl cyclodextrin moieties are linked to the chitosan microspheres through C-N bonds, with the elimination of HCl; higher amounts of acyl cyclodextrin are linked to the microspheres with a smaller crosslinking degree.

Aggregation of hydrophobically modified polysaccharides in solution and at the air-water interface.

The present article focuses on the comparative study of physicochemical properties of two ionic pullulan derivatives modified by 10 or 35 C8 chains per 100 anhydroglucose units, named CMP10C8 and CMP35C8, respectively. In aqueous solutions, these derivatives exhibited an associative behavior as evidenced by pyrene fluorescence spectroscopy. This phenomenon, which stems from intra- and/or intermolecular interactions between the hydrophobic groups grafted on the polymer backbone, results in the formation of more or less condensed aggregates depending on the C8 ratio and the ionic strength of the media.