Abstract::
Chitosan (CS) is a polymer made up of mainly deacetylated β-1,4 D-glucosamine units,
which is part of a large group of D-glucosamine oligomers known as chitooligosaccharides, which
can be obtained from chitin, most abundant natural polymer after cellulose and central component of
the shrimp exoskeleton. It is known that it can be used for the development of materials, among
which its use stands out in wastewater treatment (removal of metal ions, dyes, and as a membrane in
purification processes), food industry (anti-cholesterol and fat, packaging material, preservative, and
food additive), agriculture (seed and fertilizer coating, controlled release agrochemicals), pulp and
paper industry (surface treatment, adhesive paper), cosmetics (body creams, lotions, etc.), in the engineering
of tissues, wound healing, as excipients for drug administration, gels, membranes, nanofibers,
beads, microparticles, nanoparticles, scaffolds, sponges, and diverse biological ones, specifically
antibacterial and antifungal activities. This article reviews the main contributions published in
the last ten years regarding the use and application of CS in medical chemistry. The applications
exposed here involve regenerative medicine in the design of bioprocesses and tissue engineering,
Pharmaceutical sciences to obtain biomaterials, polymers, biomedicine, and the use of nanomaterials
and nanotechnology, toxicology, and Clinical Pharmaceuticals, emphasizing the perspectives and
the direction that can take research in this area.