[5] It is a derivative of the cyclic disulfide organic compound 1,2-dithiolane with a carboxylic acid functional group bound to carbon-4 of the heterocycle.

[7] A convenient synthesis of asparagusic acid has been developed from a commercially available diethyl malonate derivative starting material, improving on the prior method of Jansen.

"[9][10] Benjamin Franklin described the odour as "disagreable",[11] whilst Marcel Proust claimed that asparagus "transforms my chamber-pot into a flask of perfume.

The degradation pathway of lipoic acid has been well studied and includes evidence of reduction of the disulfide bridge, S-methylation, and oxidation to produce sulfoxides.

Synthetic work has confirmed the relative ease of oxidation of asparagusic acid to yield S-oxides of the dithiolane ring.