source the better the quality of the product other things being equal the catalysts of this invention allow the use of a lower purity dextrose source and yet yield a product of substantially equivalent quality as compared with prior catalysts because of the ready availability of glucose and its oligomers much of the remaining description is particularly suited to the use of glucose in its various forms alcohols useful in the process of this invention are hydroxyl functional organic compounds capable of alkylating a saccharide in the u201c 1 u201d position the alcohol can be naturally occurring synthetic or derived from natural sources and or derivatized examples include monohydric alcohols more fully discussed below and polyhydric alcohols e g ethylene glycol propylene glycol polyethylene glycols polypropylene glycols butylene glycol glycerol trimethylolpropane pentaerythritol polyester polyols polyisocyanate polyols and so on other examples include aromatic alcohols such as benzyl alcohol phenol substituted phenols e g alkylphenols and alkoxylates of each preferred alcohols are monohydric alcohols containing from about 1 to about 30 carbon atoms they may be primary or secondary alcohols straight or branched chain saturated or unsaturated e g allyl alcohol 2 ethylhexenyl alcohol and oleyl alcohol alkyl or aralkyl alcohols ether alcohols cyclic alcohols or heterocyclic alcohols in general these alcohols have minimal solvent power for the saccharide molecule examples of the monohydric alcohols which may be employed in the present invention include methyl alcohol isopropyl alcohol butyl alcohol octyl alcohol nonyl alcohol decyl alcohol dodecyl alcohol tridecyl alcohol tetradecyl alcohol pentadecyl alcohol hexadecyl alcohol pentacosyl alcohol oleyl alcohol linoleyl alcohol isoborneol alcohol hydroabietyl alcohol phenoxyethanol phenoxypolyethoxyethanol containing five ethoxy groups 2 methyl 7 ethyl 4 undecanol and mixtures of one or more of the.