Ethyl potassium malonate is used as a competitive inhibitor of the enzyme succinate dehydrogenase. It acts as a precursor to produce (trimethylsilyl)ethyl malonate, which is utilized to prepare beta-ketoesters by acylation. Further, it reacts with aryl nitriles to prepare beta-amino acrylates in the presence of zinc chloride and a catalytic amount of Hünig's base. In addition to this, it serves as an intermediate for the preparation of ethyl tert-butyl malonate.

This Thermo Scientific Chemicals brand product was originally part of the Alfa Aesar product portfolio. Some documentation and label information may refer to the legacy brand. The original Alfa Aesar product / item code or SKU reference has not changed as a part of the brand transition to Thermo Scientific Chemicals.