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