Patent ID: 6977249

Claim:
A process for producing an iron-dextran compound, in which the molecular weight of a dextran is reduced by hydrolysis, and functional aldehyde terminal groups thereof converted into alcohol groups by hydrogenation; said dextran as an aqueous solution is combined with at least one water-soluble ferric salt; base is added to the resulting solution to form ferric hydroxide, and the resulting mixture is heated to transform the ferric hydroxide into ferric oxyhydroxide as an association compound with the dextran, characterized in that the hydrogenation is only partial, leaving at the most 15% by weight reducing sugar, calculated on the total amount of carbon hydrates, and said dextran before being combined with the ferric salt, and after being subjected to hydrogenation is subjected to an oxidation, said hydrogenation and oxidation being performed to obtain dextran having substantially all aldehyde groups converted into alcohol and carboxylic groups, said so transformed dextran having no functional aldehyde groups or carboxylic acid groups in the intermediate glycosyl groups; wherein the hydrogenation is performed by means of sodium borohydride in aqueous solution; and wherein the oxidation is performed by means of a sodium hypochlorite in basic aqueous solution.