Rosin is a glycoside ester of
cinnamyl alcohol
Cinnamyl alcohol or styron is an organic compound that is found in esterified form in storax, Balsam of Peru, and cinnamon leaves. It forms a white crystalline solid when pure, or a yellow oil when even slightly impure. It can be produced by the ...
and a constituent of ''
Rhodiola rosea
''Rhodiola rosea'' (commonly golden root, rose root, roseroot, Aaron's rod, Arctic root, king's crown, ''lignum rhodium'', orpin rose) is a perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the family Crassulaceae. It grows naturally in wild Arctic ...
''.
Related compounds
The three cinnamyl alcohol-vicianosides of Rhodiola rosea, commonly referred to as "rosavins," are rosin, and the structurally related disaccharide
rosavin, which is the
arabinose
Arabinose is an aldopentose – a monosaccharide containing five carbon atoms, and including an aldehyde (CHO) functional group.
Properties
For biosynthetic reasons, most saccharides are almost always more abundant in nature as the "D"-form, o ...
ester of rosin, and
rosarin
Rosarin is a cinnamyl alcohol glycoside isolated from ''Rhodiola rosea''.
See also
* Rosavin
* Rosin
Rosin (), also known as colophony or Greek pitch (), is a resinous material obtained from pine trees and other plants, mostly conifers. ...
, the arabinofuranose ester of rosin.
Salidroside, common in Rhodiola spp. and occurring in Rhodiola rosea is not a cinnamyl alcohol
glycoside
In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. ...
, but a glycoside of
tyrosol
Tyrosol is an organic compound with the formula . Classified as a phenylethanoid, a derivative of phenethyl alcohol, it is found in a variety of natural sources. The compound is colorless solid. The principal source in the human diet is olive oi ...
.
Sources
The cinnamyl alcohol glycosides rosin, rosavin and rosarin occur in the context of rhodiola species, only in Rhodiola rosea.
References
Crassulaceae
Neuroprotective agents
Phenylpropanoid glycosides
{{organic-chem-stub