Abstract
Only one of eight possible diastereomers of the sodium salt of the tricarboxylic acid 1 is formed in high yield in the novel title reaction. Compound 1 cannot be prepared in solution, by thermolysis or by UV irradiation of crystalline sodium trans-2-butenoate. The trimerization is interesting as a model reaction for the early stages of oligomer formation in a solid-state polymerization reaction.