Glycolic acid and methyl glycolate are monomers for the production of degradable plastics, polyglycolic acid, which exhibit high tensile strength, impact resistance and excellent barrier properties.

Methyl methoxyacetate, the DMM carbonylation production, could be easily converted to glycolic acid, methyl glycolate and monoethylene glycol.

The dimethyl oxalate (DMO) hydrogenation reaction, a typical multistep catalytic reaction producing methyl glycolate (MG), ethylene glycol or ethanol, was selected as a probe reaction for copper.