**3.3 Derivatization of xylan as xylan methacrylate (XMA)**

Another method for xylan modification is developed by Lin et al. [17] where xylan was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) at 95°C followed by addition of the catalyst 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) and cooling the mixture at room temperature. The reaction mixture was stirred for 30 minutes at room temperature. Later

**Figure 6.** *Chemical reactions for the formation of xylan methacrylate.*

*Xylan-Based Hydrogels: A Polymeric Carrier for Sustained and Targeted Delivery of Drugs DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109201*

on, glycidyl methacrylate was added and the final reaction mixture was stirred for 24 hours. The reaction mixture was precipitated with anhydrous ethanol and filtered. The obtained precipitate was washed with anhydrous ethanol three times. In this way modified xylan (MX) was obtained as xylan methacrylate as light brown in color. The schematic diagram is represented as **Figure 6**.
