A New, Facile Synthesis of Methyltartronic Acid

A simple two-step approach to methyltartronic acid (2-hydroxy-2-methylpropanedioic acid, 3) from methacrylic acid (1) via α-methylglyceric acid (2) is described. It is based on the successive use of hydrogen peroxide and oxygen as oxidants in the same aqueous medium, in combination with tungstic acid and palladium on carbon as catalysts, respectively.