Chemical Modification of Inulin

Inulin represents a renewable resource that can be modified to form a cross section of products, many of which have superior attributes to similar products derived from glucose polysaccharides. Modification of inulin expands the amount and type of functional properties available, opening the door to many new uses. Most of these compounds are readily biodegradable. To date, there are over 17,000 citations for inulin in chemistry abstracts. The chemical modification of inulin, pioneered by the work of Dorine Verraest and Herman van Bekkum in the Netherlands, and Takao Uchiyama in Japan, has been reviewed by Fuchs (1987), Verraest (1997), and Stevens et al. (2001). The following critiques a portion of the diverse range of potential chemical modifications of inulin. 

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Stevens, C.V., Meriggi, A., and Booten, K., Chemical modification of inulin, a valuable renewable resource, and its industrial applications, Biomacromolecules, 2, 1-16, 2001. 

As an answer to the growing demand for products made from renewable resources and with (modified) starch as a reference in mind, a lot of these starches have been devoted to the chemical modification of inulin [3]. Hydrophobization of inulin, e.g. grafting of alkyl chains on to the inulin backbone and as such obtaining an inulin derivative showing the wanted amphiphilic character, can be done in several ways by esterification, by etherification or by carbamoylation. The reactions are usually performed in solvents like pyridine, dimethylformamide or dimethylsulfoxide, using catalysts like, for example, sodium acetate, potassium carbonate or triethylamine. 

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