[5] Early investigations focused on ether production from alcohols and strong anhydrous acids.

[6] Josef Redtenbacher subsequently analyzed the barium salt of MDA and coined the name (still occasionally used) methionic acid, following Liebig's convention.

[7][5] In 1856, Adolph Strecker analyzed various methionate salts and improved the synthesis from ether and anhydrous sulfuric acid by trapping evolving gases within the reaction vessel to maximize conversion.

[8][9] The same year, Buckton and Hofmann discovered a synthesis reaction from acetonitrile or acetamide with fuming sulfuric acid but didn't identify their product, designating it methylotetrasulphuric acid.

A higher-yielding synthesis was introduced by Hilmar Johannes Backer [nl] in 1929, treating dichloromethane (CH2Cl2) with potassium sulfite under hydrothermal conditions to get a methionate salt.