Disclosed are derivatized malto-oligosaccharides and methods for the
preparation thereof. In accordance with the disclosed invention, a
malto-oligosaccharide is hydrogenated to thereby obtain a hydrogenated
malto-oligosaccharide, and the resulting hydrogenated
malto-oligosaccharide is derivatized, such as via oxidation,
esterification, etherification, or enzymatic modification. The
derivatization of such hydrogenated malto-oligosaccharides results in a
surprisingly low level of a formation of by-products and products of
degradation. In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, a
mixture of malto-oligosaccharides is catalytically hydrogenated under
reaction conditions suitable to substantially preserve the degree of
polymerization (DP) profile of the mixture. The resulting
malto-oligosaccharide mixture then is derivatized to form a derivatized
malto-oligosaccharide mixture.
