The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of monoethylenically unsaturated glycosylamines, in which an aldehyde sugar is reacted with a primary aliphatic amine or ammonia in aqueous medium and, without interim isolation, is reacted with the anhydride of a monounsaturated carboxylic acid, or an aldehyde sugar is reacted directly with allylamine, and to a process for the preparation of polymers which comprise N-acylated glycosylamine groups in copolymerized form, and to novel unsaturated N-maleinylated glycosylamines.