Monoaldehydes have been synthesized from tri- and tetra(ethylene glycol) monosubstituted derivatives and introduced into chitosan by the reductive alkylation technique to give comb-shaped polysaccharide hybrids. The reaction of chitosan with the aldehydes in the presence of sodium cyanoborohydride proceeded efficiently to give chitosan derivatives having oligo(ethylene glycol) side chains at the amino groups. The products were characterized by high affinity for organic solvents as well as water in sharp contrast to the original chitin and chitosan. They showed significant adsorption capacity toward metal cations.