Catalytic conversion of chitin as a nitrogen-containing biomass

The conversion of chitin enables the utilisation of naturally-fixed nitrogen in addition to carbon toward establishing a sustainable carbon and nitrogen cycle. Chitin is an abundant biomass, 100 Gt per year, but most chitin-containing waste is discarded due to its recalcitrant properties. This feature article summarises the challenges and our work on chitin conversion to N-acetylglucosamine and oligomers with fascinating applications. Afterwards, we introduce recent progress on the chemical transformation of N-acetylglucosamine, followed by a discussion of future perspectives based on current status and findings.