Preparation of a sorbent for metal ions based on N-(5-methylimidazol-4-ylmethyl) chitosan with medium degree of substitution

A procedure was developed for preparing a heterocycle-containing chelating amino polymer, N-(5-methylimidazol-4-ylmethyl) chitosan, by polymer-analogous transformations of chitosan in reaction with 4-chloromethyl-5-methylimidazole. The procedure allows synthesis of the polymer with the degree of substitution of up to 0.8, with simultaneous formation of the cross-linked structure. The structure of the polymers prepared was proved by IR and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. The ability of N-(5-methylimidazol-4-ylmethyl) chitosan with the degree of substitution of 0.54 to sorb Cu²⁺ and Ni²⁺ ions was evaluated. According to the sorption isotherms, the sorption capacity of this derivative exceeds that of the unmodifi ed polymer by a factor of 5.