Glyoxylic acid is a reagent for sulfinylmaleate synthesis. It is one of the chemicals used in the Hopkins Cole reaction. It is involved to check the presence of tryptophan in proteins. It is condensed with urea and 1,2-diaminobenzene to form heterocycles. It also undergoes Friedel-Crafts and cyclocondensation reactions to form bis(pentamethylphenyl) acetic acid and a beta-carboline respectively. It is employed in the synthesis of a sulfinylmaleate, which serves as an efficient dienophile for enantioselective Diels-Alder cycloadditions.
