The invention relates to a method for synthesizing
squaric acid, which comprises the following steps of: (1) reacting
alkyl vinyl ether,
trichloroacetyl chloride and
zinc to obtain 2, 2-dichloro-3-alkoxy
cyclobutanone; (2) carrying out a chlorination reaction on the 2, 2-dichloro-3-alkoxy
cyclobutanone and
chlorine gas to obtain 2, 2, 4, 4-tetrachloro-3-alkoxy
cyclobutanone, and carrying out a chlorination reaction on the 2, 2-dichloro-3-alkoxy cyclobutanone and
chlorine gas to obtain 2, 2, 4, 4-tetrachloro-3-alkoxy cyclobutanone; (3) the 2, 2, 4, 4-tetrachloro-3-alkoxy cyclobutanone and alkali are subjected to an
elimination reaction, and 2, 4, 4-trichloro-3-alkoxy
cyclobutene-1-one is obtained; and (4) carrying out a
hydrolysis reaction on the 2, 4, 4-trichloro-3-alkoxy
cyclobutene-1-
ketone, so as to obtain the
squaric acid. The synthesis method provided by the invention can avoid the use of a forbidden
raw material perchloro-1, 3 butadiene, also has lower
energy consumption, and can meet the requirements of green and clean production.