NMR Structural Study of Hydrogels Based on Partially Deacetylated Hyaluronan

Hydrogels have been prepared using two partially deacetylated hyaluronan (deHA) samples having a molar ratio of free amino groups to total initial N-acetamido groups equal to 23 and 33%, respectively. Taking advantage of such primary amino functionalities, polymeric networks could be easily obtained in aqueous media by means of two different crosslinking procedures, namely: a) Ugi multi-component reactions and, more simply, b) glutaraldehyde reticulation. In this paper, we wish to report on the synthesis of deHA based hydrogels and, in particular, on their structural elucidation as obtained by NMR studies.