(+)-Methyl D-lactate can be used as a starting material in the asymmetric preparation of:
- Neomethymycin, a macrolide which contains 12-membered macrolactone that is used as a potent biological agent.
- PM-toxin A.
It can also be used as a chiral pool along with D-(-)-tartaric acid in the stereoselective total synthesis of separacenes A and B via Trost-Rychnovsky alkyne rearrangement, Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons olefination as well as Corey-Bakshi-Shibata reaction.