Oxidized sucrose (OS) is a bio-based cross-linking agent with excellent biological safety and environmental non-toxicity. However, the precise structure of OS has not been elucidated owing to its structural complexity and low purity. Accordingly, in this study, complete chemical shift assignments were performed by applying various nuclear magnetic resonance techniques, which permitted the structural and quantitative characterization of the two main OS products, each of which contained four aldehyde groups. In addition, we investigated the use of OS as a cross-linking agent in the preparation of a hydrogel from carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC), one of the most popular polysaccharides for use in biomedical applications. The primary amine groups of CMC were immediately cross-linked with the aldehyde groups of OS to form hydrogels without the requirement for a catalyst. It was found that the degree of cross-linking could be easily controlled by the feed amount of OS during CMC hydrogel preparation and the final cross-linking degree affected the thermal, swelling, and rheological properties of the obtained hydrogel. The results presented in this study are therefore expected to be applicable in the preparation of fully carbohydrate-based hydrogels for medical and pharmaceutical applications.
Keywords: NMR; carboxymethyl chitosan; cross-linking agent; oxidized sucrose; polysaccharide hydrogel.