The invention provides methods of deacetylating N-acetylglucosamine by
solid acid hydrolysis on a cation exchange resin. These methods
advantageously reduce the amount of acid used and the need for acid
recycle facilities. The isolated glucosamine salt produced is very clean,
reducing or eliminating the need for further purification steps to
decolorize or desalt the product. Using these methods, the number of
crystallization steps required are minimized and the degradation of the
N-acetylglucosamine in solution is significantly reduced leading to
increased yield of high quality glucosamine.
