The synthesis was a convergent synthesis, where the fatty acid was synthesised in two separate parts, the head and the tail, which were later joined together in a copper (I) mediated coupling reaction.
Efnasmíðin var samrunasmíð (e. convergent synthesis) þar sem fitusýran á esterformi var smíðuð í tveimur hlutum, haus hluta og hala hluta, sem síðan var skeytt saman með kopar tengihvarfi.