A resin is a solid or highly viscous liquid that can be converted into a polymer. Resins may be biological or synthetic in origin, but are typically harvested from plants. Resins are mixtures of organic compounds, and predominantly terpenes. Well known resins include amber, hashish, frankincense, myrrh and the animal-derived resin, shellac. Resins are commonly used in varnishes, adhesives, food additives, incenses and perfumes.
Turpentine is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Principally used as a specialized solvent, it is also a source of material for organic syntheses.
The Pinaceae, or pine family, are conifer trees or shrubs, including many of the well-known conifers of commercial importance such as cedars, firs, hemlocks, piñons, larches, pines and spruces. The family is included in the order Pinales, formerly known as Coniferales. Pinaceae have distinctive cones with woody scales bearing typically two ovules, and are supported as monophyletic by both morphological trait and genetic analysis. They are the largest extant conifer family in species diversity, with between 220 and 250 species in 11 genera, and the second-largest in geographical range, found in most of the Northern Hemisphere, with the majority of the species in temperate climates, but ranging from subarctic to tropical. The family often forms the dominant component of boreal, coastal, and montane forests. One species, Pinus merkusii, grows just south of the equator in Southeast Asia. Major centres of diversity are found in the mountains of southwest China, Mexico, central Japan, and California.
Rosin, also known as colophony or Greek pitch (Latin: pix graeca), is a resinous material obtained from pine trees and other plants, mostly conifers. The primary components of rosin are diterpenoids, i.e., C20 carboxylic acids. Rosin consists mainly of resin acids, especially abietic acid. Rosin often appears as a semi-transparent, brittle substance that ranges in color from yellow to black and melts at stove-top temperatures.
Abietic acid is a diterpenoid found in coniferous trees. It is supposed to exist as a defend the host plant from insect attack or various wounds. Chemically, it is a complicated molecule featuring two alkene groups and a carboxylic acid within a chiral tricyclic framework. As the major component of rosin, it is a commercially important. Historically speaking, it was a major component of naval stores. It is the most common of the resin acids. Another common resin acid is pimaric acid, which converts to abietic acid upon heating.
Pinus rigida, the pitch pine, is a small-to-medium-sized pine. It is native to eastern North America, primarily from central Maine south to Georgia and as far west as Kentucky. It is found in environments which other species would find unsuitable for growth, such as acidic, sandy, and low-nutrient soils.
Pinus koraiensis is a species of pine known commonly as the Korean pine. It is a relic species of the Tertiary, identified as a rare tree species by United Nations. It is native to eastern Asia: Korea, northeastern China, Mongolia, the temperate rainforests of the Russian Far East, and central Japan. In the north of its range, it grows at moderate elevations, typically 600 to 900 metres, whereas further south, it is a mountain tree, growing at 2,000 to 2,600 m elevation in Japan. Other common names include Chinese pinenut. The ancient woodland of P. koraiensis on the earth is about 50 million hectares, and China has about 30 million hectares, accounting for 60%. It is a second-class national key protected plant in China. P. koraiensis is a tree species with high economic and ecological value. The official name in Chinese is "红松 hóng sōng/red pine", because almost every part of it is related to red.
The kraft process (also known as kraft pulping or sulfate process) is a process for conversion of wood into wood pulp, which consists of almost pure cellulose fibres, the main component of paper. The kraft process involves treatment of wood chips with a hot mixture of water, sodium hydroxide (NaOH), and sodium sulfide (Na2S), known as white liquor, that breaks the bonds that link lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose. The technology entails several steps, both mechanical and chemical. It is the dominant method for producing paper. In some situations, the process has been controversial because kraft plants can release odorous products and in some situations produce substantial liquid wastes.
Pimenta racemosa is a species of plant in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae) that is native to the Caribbean region. Common names include West Indian bay tree, bay rum tree, and ciliment.
In industrial chemistry, black liquor is the by-product from the kraft process when digesting pulpwood into paper pulp removing lignin, hemicelluloses and other extractives from the wood to free the cellulose fibers.
Resin soap is a mix of salts of resin acids. It is a yellow gelatinous pasty soap with use in bleaching and cleaning and as a compound of some varnishes. It also finds use in rubber industry as an emulsifier. Often the soap is pretreated with formaldehyde and maleic anhydride.
Tall oil, also called liquid rosin or tallol, is a viscous yellow-black odorous liquid obtained as a by-product of the kraft process of wood pulp manufacture when pulping mainly coniferous trees. The name originated as an anglicization of the Swedish tallolja. Tall oil is the third largest chemical by-product in a kraft mill after lignin and hemicellulose; the yield of crude tall oil from the process is in the range of 30–50 kg / ton pulp. It may contribute to 1.0–1.5% of the mill's revenue if not used internally.
The enzyme abieta-7,13-diene synthase catalyzes the chemical reaction
Abietane is a diterpene that forms the structural basis for a variety of natural chemical compounds such as abietic acid, carnosic acid, and ferruginol which are collectively known as abietanes or abietane diterpenes.
Levopimaric acid is an abietane-type of diterpene resin acid. It is a major constituent of pine oleoresin with the chemical formula of C20H30O2. In general, the abietene types of diterpene resin acid have various biological activities, such as antibacterial, cardiovascular and antioxidant. Levopimaric acid accounts for about 18 to 25% of pine oleoresin. The production of oleoresin by conifer species is an important component of the defense response against insect attack and fungal pathogen infection.
Abieta-7,13-dien-18-ol hydroxylase (EC 1.14.13.109, CYP720B1, PTAO) is an enzyme with systematic name abieta-7,13-dien-18-ol,NADPH:oxygen oxidoreductase (18-hydroxylating). This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction
Levopimaradiene synthase is an enzyme with systematic name (+)-copalyl-diphosphate diphosphate-lyase . This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction
Neoabietadiene synthase is an enzyme with systematic name (+)-copaly-diphosphate diphosphate-lyase . This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction:
Palustric acid is an organic compound with the formula C20H30O2. It is classified as a diterpenoid and a resin acid. Palustric acid is an isomer of abietic acid: the location of the two C=C bonds differ in these two compounds. It is a colorless solid that is soluble in polar organic solvents. In terms of biological function palustric acid protects its host trees, especially conifers, against insects, an example of plant defense against herbivory. It is biosynthesized from the C20 precursor geranylgeranyl diphosphate.
