Table 1.

Summary of reagent, reaction conditions, and final product characterization of a number of described hydrolysis reactions of chitosan using concentrated HCl (12 M).

DA of Starting Chitosan	Reaction Conditions	Final Product	Characterization	Reference
DA ~0%	72 °C, 1.5 h	DP = 2–12	Mass spectroscopy	[16]
DA < 10%	70 °C, 4 h	DP = 6–16	HPLC-light scattering detector	[19]
DA = 12%	72 °C, 0.5 h	DP = 3–16	Mass spectroscopy	[22]
DA ~0%	72 °C, 0.5–3 h	DP < 40	Size exclusion chromatography-refractive index detector	[23]

DA: Degree of acetylation; DP: Degree of polymerization.