Patent ID: 8580950

Claim:
A composition comprising at least one aldehyde-functionalized polysaccharide containing pendant dialdehyde groups, said aldehyde-functionalized polysaccharide having a weight-average molecular weight of about 1,000 to about 1,000,000 Daltons and a degree of aldehyde substitution of about 5% to about 100%, wherein: (i) each pendant dialdehyde group is attached to the polysaccharide through a linking group comprising carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms, (ii) said linking group is attached to the polysaccharide by an ether or an ester linkage, (iii) said linking group does not contain an aromatic ring, (iv) said pendant dialdehyde groups comprise two aldehyde functionalities separated by 2 to 4 atoms, and (v) said two aldehyde functionalities are not bound to two adjacent carbon atoms that are bound together by a carbon-carbon double bond.