Chitin-Melanin Complex

[bizipee]

Hi, I would appreciate if anyone could help me with a method (also enzymatic ) how I can separate Melanine from this complex arising from the isolation of chitin from the cuticle of the black soldier fly. Chitin-Melanine complex is insoluble in acids. Apparently in the literature it is said that it is impossible to separate without destroying Chitin. I would gladly appreciate your assistance. Thanks

[Andy Alpert]

Try a combination of hexafluoro-2-propanol + concentrated formic acid in a 9:1 ratio. This solvent will dissolve a bacterial cell pellet in minutes at room temperature.

[bizipee]

Thanks Andy,
But in my case, I have this chemical complex not in any bacterial cell. I was merely asking if there is any chemical way of degrading this polymer compund or if there is any enzyme that can be used for its degradation. Do you mean that this solution can degrade this polymer complex?

[Andy Alpert]

You can't purify anything until you get it into solution, and my suggestion concerned a way to do that. Another approach would be to convert the chitin partially to chitosan. Chitin isn't soluble in water. Neither is chitosan, although it is soluble in acetic acid solution. If you leave chitin in concentrated NaOH solution, then it will slowly deacetylate, forming chitosan. When that loss of acetyl- groups is approximately 50% complete, then the resulting polymer is soluble in water. You might try that to see if you can then separate the semi-chitosan from the melanin complex. I don't know if the NaOH will degrade the melanin, though.

[bizipee]

Thank you very much. I will try that out and also check if there is anyway the complex can be hydrolysed. thanks