Acetonedicarboxylic acid
Acetonedicarboxylic acid, 3-oxoglutaric acid or β-ketoglutaric acid is a simple dicarboxylic acid. Preparation. Acetonedicarboxylic acid can also be prepared by decarboxylation of citric acid in fuming sulfuric acid: Applications. Acetonedicarboxylic acid and its derivatives are primarily used as building blocks in organic chemistry, particularly in the synthesis of heterocyclic rings and in the Weiss–Cook reaction. Acetonedicarboxylic acid is well-known to be used in the Robinson tropinone synthesis. The presence of β-ketoglutaric acid in human urine can be used as a diagnostic test for the overgrowth of harmful gut flora such as "Candida albicans