 While she did not solve this problem, she did improve the yield and decrease the dialdehyde recovered by “the acylation of a substituted ethyl acetoacetate by the group related to the weakest possible acid”.One example of this is the synthesis of 10-ketotridecoic acid via 13-diketopalmitic acid, which is an important acid because, with reduction and dehydration, it becomes the molecule that is an active ovarian hormone.Gertrude Robinson, using her methods for the synthesis of higher fatty acids, synthesized n-triacontanoic acid, also known as Melissic acid, and 13-oxodotetracontanoic acid.