Inside Cover: Catalytic Depolymerization of Chitin with Retention of N ‐Acetyl Group (ChemSusChem 22/2015)

The Inside Cover picture shows the catalytic depolymerization of chitin with retention of the N ‐acetyl group. Mechanical force works as tensile stress for the main chain of chitin to dissociate the glycosidic bonds in the presence of a catalytic amount of H 2 SO 4 , which is illustrated as the power of a crab. In contrast, the force has little effect on the N ‐acetyl group hanging from each monomeric unit. Thus, this reaction selectively yields N ‐acetylated oligomers, and the products are readily converted to N ‐acetylated monomers such as 1‐ O ‐methyl‐ N ‐acetylglucosamine in good yields. More details can be found in the Communication by A. Fukuoka et al. on page 3760 in Issue 22, 2015 (DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201501224).