The results of research on polymer blends based on polysaccharides (chitin, chitosan, cellulose, starch, etc.) and variously hydrophilic synthetic polymers produced by reaction mixing in solid state under pressure and shear stresses are summarized. The mechanisms of the processes occurring under solidphase synthesis conditions, the properties of the multicomponent systems formed, and the feasibility of their application for creating new biocompatible and biodegradable materials are discussed.In this review, we have summarized the results of more than 20 years of collaboration with the Department of Chemical Fibres and Nanomaterials Engineering, A. N. Kosygin Moscow State Textile University (MGTU im. A. N. Kosygina), chaired by Leonid Semenovich Gal'braikh, on the study of the structure, properties, and application of materials based on polysaccharides produced by solid-phase synthesis at N. S. Enikolopov Institute of Synthetic Polymeric Materials (ISPM im. Enikolopova). These results have helped produce a number of amphiphilic composites capable of forming film and fibre from neutral aqueous and organic solutions that have potential for use in filtration and ion exchange processes, in biotechnology, and for producing new biomedical materials.It is well known that polysaccharides are nontoxic biopolymers, which have a wide raw materials base and are widely used as inexpensive fillers in production of biodegradable plastic materials (starch, cellulose, etc.) as well as for creating new biomedical materials having special properties (chitin, chitosan, etc.) [1-3]. However, poor solubility of polysaccharides, lack of possibility for their treatment in melt, and low compatibility between synthetic and natural polymers restrict methods of producing composites based on them. The system developed at ISPM for submitting polymers to pressure, shear stress, and temperature in such devices as extruders helps achieve significant synthesis effects (high degree of conversions, process selectivity, reduced mechanical and thermal destruction, etc.) and develop industrial solutionless methods of modification of infusible and difficultly soluble polymers.In one of the earliest joint papers [4], we showed the feasibility and advantage of use of solid-phase chitosan and chitin synthesis method because this method helps enhance the efficiency and ecological cleanness of the process. It was observed that alkali-deacetylation of chitin occurs completely under these conditions (the content of residual acetamide groups in the product does not exceed 5-8%). The quantity of alkali used in this method is 2-4 times less than in the chitosan production methods described in the literature, and the process time is reduced from several hours to minutes. We suggest that the basic reason for increased efficiency of the process is formation of solid amorphous chitin−alkali solutions in the course of their joint straining. Investigations of the particle size composition, molecular mass distribution, and rheological behavior of the chitosan specimen...