Patent ID: 8106098

Claim:
A biodegradable, biocompatible polyacetal derivative derived from controlled lateral oxidative cleavage of dextran, the polyacetal derivative having the structure: wherein p is an integer; each occurrence of R 1 and R 2 is independently hydrogen or —CH 2 OH; with the proviso that R 1 and R 2 cannot be both —CH 2 OH within the same bracketed structure p; for m independent occurrences of the bracketed structure p, R 1 and R 2 are each hydrogen; for n independent occurrences of the bracketed structure p, one of R 1 and R 2 is hydrogen, the other is —CH 2 OH; the sum m+n=p; and m:n is within a range achieved when the polyacetal derivative is produced through oxidation of dextran with periodate in a periodate:dextran ratio of 1.8:1.