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Chitin is an unbranched polymer of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and is a derivative of cellulose.

It can be described as cellulose with one OH group on each monomer substituted with an acetyl amide group.

This results in increased hydrogen bonding between the monomers giving chitin-polymer complex increased strength.

Due to this increased hydrogen bonding there no free available OH groups to hydrogen bond with water.

Therefore resulting in chitin being in soluble in water.

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Wiki User

14y ago
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AnswerBot

6mo ago

Chitin is insoluble in water because it is a large, rigid molecule composed of long chains of repeating units that form strong hydrogen bonds with one another. These hydrogen bonds prevent chitin molecules from easily interacting with water molecules, making chitin insoluble in water.

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Q: Why is chitin insoluble in water?
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