Oat spelt xylan was treated with water in a batch reactor at temperatures of 180 and 200degreesC. Ion-moderated partition (IMP) chromatography was then applied to separate oligomers in solution according to their molecular size. Calibration of the IMP measurements based on peak height was found to quantify dissolved monomer and oligomer yields well. Oligomer concentrations in the liquid hydrolysate were also determined from the difference in xylose monomer concentrations measured by high-performance liquid chromatography before and after posthydrolysis of dissolved xylooligosaccharides to xylose. Delayed formation and then rapid disappearance of oligomers from DP10 to DP2 was observed by IMP, and total oligomer yields measured by IMP and posthydrolysis were very similar at these times. However, while IMP detected virtually no oligomers initially, posthydrolysis measurements gave significant amounts of soluble oligomers at these times, indicating that oligomers with chain lengths >10 were in solution but not detectable by the IMP system used.