DMSS  usage
The base-catalyzed reaction of dimethyl succinate to dimethylsuccinylsuccinate (DMSS) was first described in 1885

The most important application of dimethylsuccinylsuccinate is as a building block for the pigment group of chinacridone and chinacridone quinone.
In 1935, Hans Liebermann first published the synthesis of linear chinacridone, starting from dimethylsuccinylsuccinate-based 2,5-dianilinoterephthalic acid. The colors of the "chinacridone" obtained at that time ranged from yellow to red to violet, but their exceptional properties as pigments were not recognized.

In the first stage of the reaction to chinacridone, dimethylsuccinylsuccinate (DMSS) is reacted with aniline under nitrogen and acid catalysis to yield dimethyl-2,5-dianilino-3,6-dihydroterephthalate in virtually quantitative yield. The dihydroterephthalic acid diester can then be oxidized to the terephthalic acid diester using air oxygen. In a one-pot reaction, condensation with aniline occurs in an acidic environment, followed by oxidation with air in an alkaline environment in the presence of cationic surfactants, resulting in nearly quantitative yields of 2,5-dianilinoterephthalic acid.
2,5-Dianilinoterephthalic acid is converted to chinacridone by heating in the presence of dehydrating agents, such as polyphosphoric acid. The oxidation of the central benzene ring in the chinacridone framework, for example using potassium peroxodisulfate, produces gold-yellow to chestnut-brown chinacridone quinones.