Another synthesis involves cyanation of ethylene chlorohydrin followed by hydrolysis of the resulting nitrile.

[3] Propiolactone, the dehydrated derivative of 3-hydroxypropionic acid, is produced by reaction of ketene and formaldehyde.

[4] 3-Hydroxypropionic acid is listed as one of the "top" chemicals that could be produced from renewable resources.

Since 3-HPA can be derived from biological sources, the resulting material, poly(3-hydroxypropionic acid) or P(3-HPA), is biorenewable.

[8] A genetically encoded 3-hydroxypropionic acid inducible system has been characterized in bacteria demonstrating that such system in combination with fluorescent reporter protein can be utilized as a biosensor to measure intracellular and extracellular 3-HP concentrations by fluorescence output.