Diethyl malate has a fruity odor with a pleasant herbaceous undertone. It is an ester of dicarboxylic acid
It exhibits two optically active isomers in addition to the optically inactive form; the most common is the l-isomer; reported present in the cultures of certain fungi (Rhizopus). Reported found in raspberry, cognac, malt whiskey, cider, sherry,
white, red, port, sparkling, rose, strawberry and bilberry wines
Diethyl DL-Malate is used as a reagent in the synthesis of dicarboxylic nitroxyalkylamides and nitroxyalkylimides as anti-ischemic agents.
The l-isomer can be prepared by esterification of the l-isomer of the acid with alcohol in the presence of HCl.
ChEBI: Diethyl malate is a malate ester obtained by the formal condensation of the two carboxy groups of malic acid with two molecules of ethanol respectively. It has a role as a metabolite.
Diethyl malate is quite frequently used in flavour compositions, mainly for imitation Apples and Rum. The concentration in the finished consumer product may be about 20 to 25 ppm or up to 45 ppm in baked goods.
