In this paper, chloracetyl chitosan (CACTS) was prepared at first. In the molecules of CACTS, there are active chlorine groups, which can take part in other reactions. Thus, number of chitosan derivatives will be obtained after chlorine is substituted. Choosing pyridine as the active group, a novel water-soluble chitosan derivative, (2-pyridyl)-acetyl chitosan (PACTS) was obtained and its antioxidant activity against hydroxyl radicals and superoxide radicals was assessed. The results indicated that PACTS had better antioxidant activity than that of chitosan, carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCTS), hydroxypropyl chitosan (HPCTS), and Vitamin C. And the $IC_{50}$ values against hydroxyl radicals and superoxide radicals were 0.31 mg/mL and 0.21 mg/mL, respectively.