An efficient and practical synthesis of the novel anti-tumor compound 6, 8-dithiobenzyl octanoic acid, CPI-613 (2), was developed and executed on a practical scale. CPI-613 can be made in a single vessel from (±)-lipoic acid (1) via reductive opening of the disulfide ring followed by benzylation of the sulfhydryls with benzyl bromide. CPI-613 was isolated by simple crystallization in high yield and purity. The process is scaleable and has been ...