Styrylacetic acid triglyceride has been suggested by Dr. Brusilow at Johns Hopkins Medical Center as a potential dietary supplement for treatment of urea cycle disorders. It is hoped that this compound will be metabolized to phenylacetate and will not have the unpleasant taste of phenylacetate, phenylbutyrate, and triglyceride of phenylbutyric acid, currently used or under consideration for use in treatment of urea cycle disorders.
This thesis reports the different approaches to characterization and preparation of styrylacetic acid triglyceride, which highlight the success with sulfonated charcoal as the catalyst. The analysis and synthesis of the impurities in the reaction mixture were also included, as well as the preliminary results of synthesis of other alternative dietary supplements.