Resin - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Resin in the most specific use of the term is a hydrocarbon

Hydrocarbon

In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons from which one hydrogen atom has been removed are functional groups, called hydrocarbyls....

secretion

Secretion

Secretion is the process of elaborating, releasing, and oozing chemicals, or a secreted chemical substance from a cell or gland. In contrast to excretion, the substance may have a certain function, rather than being a waste product...

of many plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

s, particularly coniferous trees

Pinophyta

The conifers, division Pinophyta, also known as division Coniferophyta or Coniferae, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. Pinophytes are gymnosperms. They are cone-bearing seed plants with vascular tissue; all extant conifers are woody plants, the great majority being...

. Resins are valued for their chemical properties and associated uses, such as the production of varnish

Varnish

Varnish is a transparent, hard, protective finish or film primarily used in wood finishing but also for other materials. Varnish is traditionally a combination of a drying oil, a resin, and a thinner or solvent. Varnish finishes are usually glossy but may be designed to produce satin or semi-gloss...

es, adhesive

Adhesive

An adhesive, or glue, is a mixture in a liquid or semi-liquid state that adheres or bonds items together. Adhesives may come from either natural or synthetic sources. The types of materials that can be bonded are vast but they are especially useful for bonding thin materials...

s, and food glazing agent

Glazing agent

Glazing agents, or polishing agents, are food additives providing shiny appearance or protective coating to foods. Mostly they are based on waxes.Examples are:* Stearic acid * Beeswax * Candelilla wax...

s; as an important source of raw materials for organic synthesis

Organic synthesis

Organic synthesis is a special branch of chemical synthesis and is concerned with the construction of organic compounds via organic reactions. Organic molecules can often contain a higher level of complexity compared to purely inorganic compounds, so the synthesis of organic compounds has...

; and as constituents of incense

Incense

Incense is composed of aromatic biotic materials, which release fragrant smoke when burned. The term "incense" refers to the substance itself, rather than to the odor that it produces. It is used in religious ceremonies, ritual purification, aromatherapy, meditation, for creating a mood, and for...

and perfume

Perfume

Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and/or aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces "a pleasant scent"...

. Plant resins have a very long history that was documented in ancient Greece by Theophrastus

Theophrastus

Theophrastus , a Greek native of Eresos in Lesbos, was the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He came to Athens at a young age, and initially studied in Plato's school. After Plato's death he attached himself to Aristotle. Aristotle bequeathed to Theophrastus his writings, and...

, in ancient Rome by Pliny the Elder

Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...

, and especially in the resins known as frankincense

Frankincense

Frankincense, also called olibanum , is an aromatic resin obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia, particularly Boswellia sacra, B. carteri, B. thurifera, B. frereana, and B. bhaw-dajiana...

and myrrh

Myrrh

Myrrh is the aromatic oleoresin of a number of small, thorny tree species of the genus Commiphora, which grow in dry, stony soil. An oleoresin is a natural blend of an essential oil and a resin. Myrrh resin is a natural gum....

, prized in ancient Egypt. These were highly prized substances, and required as incense

Incense

in some religious rites. Amber

Amber

Amber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes, as a healing agent in folk medicine, and as jewelry. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents...

is a hard fossilized resin from ancient trees.

More broadly, the term "resin" also encompasses a great many synthetic substances of similar mechanical properties (thick liquids that harden into transparent solids), as well as shellac

Shellac

Shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug, on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes , which are dissolved in ethyl alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and wood finish...

s of insects of the superfamily Coccoidea.

Other liquid compounds found in plants or exuded by plants, such as sap

Plant sap

Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. It transports water and nutrients throughout the plant....

, latex

Latex

Latex is the stable dispersion of polymer microparticles in an aqueous medium. Latexes may be natural or synthetic.Latex as found in nature is a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants . It is a complex emulsion consisting of proteins, alkaloids, starches, sugars, oils, tannins, resins,...

, or mucilage

Mucilage

Mucilage is a thick, gluey substance produced by most plants and some microorganisms. It is a polar glycoprotein and an exopolysaccharide.It occurs in various parts of nearly all classes of plant, usually in relatively small percentages, and is frequently associated with other substances, such as...

, are sometimes confused with resin, but are not chemically the same. Saps, in particular, serve a nutritive function that resins do not. There is no consensus on why plants secrete resins. However, resins consist primarily of secondary metabolites or compounds that apparently play no role in the primary physiology of a plant. While some scientists view resins only as waste products, their protective benefits to the plant are widely documented. The toxic resinous compounds may confound a wide range of herbivores, insects, and pathogens; while the volatile phenolic compounds

Natural phenol

Natural phenols, bioavailable phenols, plant phenolics, low molecular weight phenols or phenoloids are a class of natural products. They are small molecules containing one or more phenolic group. These molecules are smaller in size than polyphenols, containing less than 12 phenolic groups...

may attract benefactors such as parasitoids or predators of the herbivores that attack the plant.

The word "resin" has been applied in the modern world to nearly any component of a liquid that will set into a hard lacquer

Lacquer

In a general sense, lacquer is a somewhat imprecise term for a clear or coloured varnish that dries by solvent evaporation and often a curing process as well that produces a hard, durable finish, in any sheen level from ultra matte to high gloss and that can be further polished as required...

or enamel

Vitreous enamel

Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...

-like finish. An example is nail polish

Nail polish

Nail polish, or nail varnish, is a lacquer applied to human fingernails or toenails to decorate and/or protect the nail plate.-History:...

, a modern product which contains "resins" that are organic compounds, but not classical plant resins. Certain "casting resins" and synthetic resin

Synthetic resin

Synthetic resins are materials with a property of interest that is similar to natural plant resins: they are viscous liquids that are capable of hardening permanently. Otherwise, chemically they are very different from the various resinous compounds secreted by plants .The synthetics are of several...

s (such as epoxy resin) have also been given the name "resin" because they solidify in the same way as (some) plant resins, but synthetic resins are liquid monomers of thermosetting plastic

Thermosetting plastic

A thermosetting plastic, also known as a thermoset, is polymer material that irreversibly cures. The cure may be done through heat , through a chemical reaction , or irradiation such as electron beam processing.Thermoset materials are usually liquid or malleable prior to curing and designed to be...

s, and do not derive from plants.

The English word originates from the late 14th century Old French resine, from L. resina "resin," from Greek rhetine "resin of the pine," of unknown earlier origin.

Chemistry

The resin produced by most plants is a viscous liquid

Liquid

Liquid is one of the three classical states of matter . Like a gas, a liquid is able to flow and take the shape of a container. Some liquids resist compression, while others can be compressed. Unlike a gas, a liquid does not disperse to fill every space of a container, and maintains a fairly...

, composed mainly of volatile fluid terpene

Terpene

Terpenes are a large and diverse class of organic compounds, produced by a variety of plants, particularly conifers, though also by some insects such as termites or swallowtail butterflies, which emit terpenes from their osmeterium. They are often strong smelling and thus may have had a protective...

s, with lesser components of dissolved non-volatile solids which make resin thick and sticky. The most common terpenes in resin are the bicyclic terpenes alpha-pinene

Alpha-Pinene

α-Pinene is an organic compound of the terpene class, one of two isomers of pinene. It is an alkene and it contains a reactive four-membered ring. It is found in the oils of many species of many coniferous trees, notably the pine. It is also found in the essential oil of rosemary...

, beta-pinene

Pinene

Pinene is a bicyclic monoterpene chemical compound. There are two structural isomers of pinene found in nature: α-pinene and β-pinene. As the name suggests, both forms are important constituents of pine resin; they are also found in the resins of many other conifers, as well as in non-coniferous...

, delta-3 carene

Carene

Carene, or delta-3-carene, is a bicyclic monoterpene which occurs naturally as a constituent of turpentine, with a content as high as 42% depending on the source. Carene has a sweet and pungent odor. It is not soluble in water, but miscible with fats and oils....

and sabinene

Sabinene

Sabinene is a natural bicyclic monoterpene with the molecular formula C10H16. It is isolated from the essential oils of a variety of plants including holm oak and Norway spruce...

, the monocyclic terpenes limonene

Limonene

Limonene is a colourless liquid hydrocarbon classified as a cyclic terpene. The more common D isomer possesses a strong smell of oranges. It is used in chemical synthesis as a precursor to carvone and as a renewably-based solvent in cleaning products....

and terpinolene, and smaller amounts of the tricyclic sesquiterpene

Sesquiterpene

Sesquiterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of three isoprene units and have the molecular formula C15H24. Like monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes may be acyclic or contain rings, including many unique combinations...

s, longifolene

Longifolene

Longifolene is the common chemical name of a naturally occurring, oily liquid hydrocarbon found primarily in the high-boiling fraction of certain pine resins. The name is derived from that of a pine species from which the compound was isolated, Pinus longifolia Chemically, longifolene is a...

, caryophyllene

Caryophyllene

Caryophyllene , or -β-caryophyllene, is a natural bicyclic sesquiterpene that is a constituent of many essential oils, especially clove oil, the oil from the stems and flowers of Syzygium aromaticum , the essential oil of hemp Cannabis sativa, rosemary Rosmarinus oficinalis, and hops...

and delta-cadinene

Cadinene

Cadinene is the trivial chemical name of a number of isomeric hydrocarbons that occur in a wide variety of essential oil-producing plants. The name is derived from that of the Cade juniper , the wood of which yields an oil from which cadinene isomers were first isolated.Chemically, the cadinenes...

. Some resins also contain a high proportion of resin acid

Resin acid

Resin acids usually refers to mixtures primarily. Abietic acid is the main component but several related carboxylic acids. Nearly all resin acids have the same basic skeleton: three fused ring fused with the empirical formula C19H29COOH. These materials occur in rosin but also occur in fossil...

s. The individual components of resin can be separated by fractional distillation

Fractional distillation

Fractional distillation is the separation of a mixture into its component parts, or fractions, such as in separating chemical compounds by their boiling point by heating them to a temperature at which several fractions of the compound will evaporate. It is a special type of distillation...

.

A few plants produce resins with different compositions, most notably Jeffrey Pine

Jeffrey Pine

The Jeffrey Pine, Pinus jeffreyi, named in honor of its botanist documenter John Jeffrey, is a North American pine related to Ponderosa Pine.-Distribution and habitat:...

and Gray Pine

Gray Pine

Pinus sabiniana , with the common names gray pine, California foothill pine, and the more historically and internationally used digger pine, is a pine endemic to California in the United States...

, the volatile components of which are largely pure n-heptane

Heptane

n-Heptane is the straight-chain alkane with the chemical formula H3C5CH3 or C7H16. When used as a test fuel component in anti-knock test engines, a 100% heptane fuel is the zero point of the octane rating scale...

with little or no terpenes. The exceptional purity of the n-heptane distilled from Jeffrey Pine resin, unmixed with other isomer

Isomer

In chemistry, isomers are compounds with the same molecular formula but different structural formulas. Isomers do not necessarily share similar properties, unless they also have the same functional groups. There are many different classes of isomers, like stereoisomers, enantiomers, geometrical...

s of heptane

Heptane

, led to its being used as the defining zero point on the octane rating

Octane rating

Octane rating or octane number is a standard measure of the anti-knock properties of a motor or aviation fuel. The higher the octane number, the more compression the fuel can withstand before detonating...

scale of petrol quality. Because heptane is highly flammable, distillation of resins containing it is very dangerous. Some resin distilleries in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

exploded because they mistook Jeffrey Pine for the similar but terpene-producing Ponderosa Pine

Ponderosa Pine

Pinus ponderosa, commonly known as the Ponderosa Pine, Bull Pine, Blackjack Pine, or Western Yellow Pine, is a widespread and variable pine native to western North America. It was first described by David Douglas in 1826, from eastern Washington near present-day Spokane...

. At the time the two pines were considered to be the same species of pine; they were only classified as separate species in 1853.

Some resins when soft are known as 'oleoresins', and when containing benzoic acid

Benzoic acid

Benzoic acid , C7H6O2 , is a colorless crystalline solid and the simplest aromatic carboxylic acid. The name derived from gum benzoin, which was for a long time the only source for benzoic acid. Its salts are used as a food preservative and benzoic acid is an important precursor for the synthesis...

or cinnamic acid

Cinnamic acid

Cinnamic acid is a white crystalline organic acid, which is slightly soluble in water.It is obtained from oil of cinnamon, or from balsams such as storax. It is also found in shea butter and is the best indication of its environmental history and post-extraction conditions...

they are called balsams. Other resinous products in their natural condition are a mix with gum

Natural gum

Natural gums are polysaccharides of natural origin, capable of causing a large viscosity increase in solution, even at small concentrations. In the food industry they are used as thickening agents, gelling agents, emulsifying agents, and stabilizers...

or mucilaginous substances and known as gum resins. Many compound resins have distinct and characteristic odors, from their admixture with essential oil

Essential oil

An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils or aetherolea, or simply as the "oil of" the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove...

s.

Certain resins are obtained in a fossilized condition, amber

Amber

being the most notable instance of this class; Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

n copal

Copal

Copal is a name given to tree resin that is particularly identified with the aromatic resins used by the cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica as ceremonially burned incense and other purposes...

and the kauri gum

Gum-digger

Kauri gum, a fossilized resin detracted from kauri trees, is used for chewing or tattooing, and often is made into jewellery. The gum comes from kauri trees found in Agathis australis forests. The trees once covered much of the New Zealand North Island, before Māori and European settlers caused...

of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

are also procured in a semi-fossil condition.

Derivatives

Solidified resin from which the volatile terpene components have been removed by distillation is known as rosin

Rosin

.Rosin, also called colophony or Greek pitch , is a solid form of resin obtained from pines and some other plants, mostly conifers, produced by heating fresh liquid resin to vaporize the volatile liquid terpene components. It is semi-transparent and varies in color from yellow to black...

. Typical rosin is a transparent or translucent mass, with a vitreous fracture and a faintly yellow or brown colour, non-odorous or having only a slight turpentine odour and taste.

It is insoluble in water, mostly soluble in alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

, essential oil

Essential oil

s, ether

Ether

Ethers are a class of organic compounds that contain an ether group — an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups — of general formula R–O–R'. A typical example is the solvent and anesthetic diethyl ether, commonly referred to simply as "ether"...

and hot fatty oils, and softens and melts under the influence of heat, is not capable of sublimation, and burns with a bright but smoky flame.

This comprises a complex mixture of different substances including organic acids named the resin acid

Resin acid

s. These are closely related to the terpenes, and derive from them through partial oxidation. Resin acids can be dissolved in alkali

Alkali

In chemistry, an alkali is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal element. Some authors also define an alkali as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7. The adjective alkaline is commonly used in English as a synonym for base,...

s to form resin soap

Resin soap

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....

s, from which the purified resin acids are regenerated by treatment with acids. Examples of resin acids are abietic acid

Abietic acid

Abietic acid , an organic compound that occurs widely in trees. It is the primary component of resin acid, is the primary irritant in pine wood and resin, isolated from rosin and is the most abundant of several closely related organic acids that constitute most of rosin, the solid portion of the...

(sylvic acid), C₂₀H₃₀O₂, plicatic acid

Plicatic acid

Plicatic acid is a carboxylic acid from the resin acid group. It is naturally found in thuja and cypress resin. It is the main irritant and contact allergen present in thuja wood...

contained in cedar, and pimaric acid

Pimaric acid

Pimaric acid is a carboxylic acid from the resin acid group. It can be prepared by dehydration of abietic acid, which it usually accompanies in mixtures like rosin. It is soluble in alcohols, acetone, and ethers....

, C₂₀H₃₅O₂, a constituent of galipot

Galipot

Galipot is an impure resin of turpentine. It is obtained from pine trees by evaporation of the essential oil and once purified is called yellow pitch, white pitch or Burgundy pitch....

resin. Abietic acid can also be extracted from rosin by means of hot alcohol; it crystallizes in leaflets, and on oxidation yields trimellitic acid, isophthalic acid

Isophthalic acid

Isophthalic acid is an organic compound with the formula C6H42. This colourless solid is an isomer of phthalic acid and terephthalic acid. These aromatic dicarboxylic acids are used as precursors to commercially important polymers, e.g. the fire-resistant material Nomex...

and terebic acid. Pimaric acid closely resembles abietic acid into which it passes when distilled in a vacuum

Vacuum

In everyday usage, vacuum is a volume of space that is essentially empty of matter, such that its gaseous pressure is much less than atmospheric pressure. The word comes from the Latin term for "empty". A perfect vacuum would be one with no particles in it at all, which is impossible to achieve in...

; it has been supposed to consist of three isomers.

Uses

The hard transparent resins, such as the copal

Copal

Copal is a name given to tree resin that is particularly identified with the aromatic resins used by the cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica as ceremonially burned incense and other purposes...

s, dammars, mastic

Mastic (plant resin)

Mastic is a resin obtained from the mastic tree . In pharmacies and Nature shops it is called "arabic gum" and "Yemen gum". In Greece it is known as the "tears of Chios," being traditionally produced on that Greek island, and, like other natural resins is produced in "tears" or droplets...

and sandarac

Sandarac

Sandarac is a resin obtained from the small cypress-like tree Tetraclinis articulata. The tree is native to the northwest of Africa with a notable presence in the Southern Morocco part of the Atlas mountains. The resin exudes naturally on the stems of the tree. It is also gotten by making cuts on...

, are principally used for varnish

Varnish

es and cement

Cement

In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...

, while the softer odoriferous oleo-resins (frankincense

Frankincense

Frankincense, also called olibanum , is an aromatic resin obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia, particularly Boswellia sacra, B. carteri, B. thurifera, B. frereana, and B. bhaw-dajiana...

, elemi

Elemi

Canarium luzonicum, commonly known as elemi, is a tree native to the Philippines, and an oleoresin harvested from it.-Uses:Elemi resin is a pale yellow substance, of honey-like consistency. Aromatic elemi oil is steam distilled from the resin. It is a fragrant resin with a sharp pine and lemon-like...

, turpentine

Turpentine

Turpentine is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin obtained from trees, mainly pine trees. It is composed of terpenes, mainly the monoterpenes alpha-pinene and beta-pinene...

, copaiba

Copaiba

Copaiba is a stimulant oleoresin obtained from the trunk of several pinnate-leaved South American leguminous trees . The thick, transparent exudate varies in color from light gold to dark brown, depending on the ratio of resin to essential oil...

) and gum resins containing essential oils (ammoniacum

Ammoniacum

Ammoniacum, or gum ammoniac , is a gum-resin exuded from the stem of a perennial herb , natural order Umbelliferae. The plant grows to the height of 8 or 9 ft., and its whole stem is pervaded with a milky juice, which oozes out on an incision being made at any part...

, asafoetida

Asafoetida

Asafoetida , alternative spelling asafetida, is the dried latex exuded from the living underground rhizome or tap root of several species of Ferula, which is a perennial herb...

, gamboge

Gamboge

Gamboge is a partially transparent dark mustard yellow pigment.Other forms and spellings are: cambodia, cambogium, camboge, cambugium, gambaugium, gambogia, gambozia, gamboidea, gambogium, gumbouge, gambouge, gamboge, gambooge, gambugia...

, myrrh

Myrrh

, and scammony

Scammony

Scammony is a bindweed native to the countries of the eastern part of the Mediterranean basin; it grows in bushy waste places, from Syria in the south to the Crimea in the north, its range extending westward to the Greek islands, but not to northern Africa or Italy.It is a twining perennial,...

) are more largely used for therapeutic purposes and incense

Incense

.

Resin in the form of rosin

Rosin

is applied to the bows of stringed instruments (e.g. violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

, rebec

Rebec

The rebecha is a bowed string musical instrument. In its most common form, it has a narrow boat-shaped body and 1-5 strings and is played on the arm or under the chin, like a violin.- Origins :The rebec dates back to the Middle Ages and was particularly popular in the 15th and 16th centuries...

, erhu

Erhu

The erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a "southern fiddle", and sometimes known in the Western world as the "Chinese violin" or a "Chinese two-stringed fiddle". It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles...

, sarangi

Sarangi

The Sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument of India which is originated from Rajasthani folk instruments. It plays an important role in India's Hindustani classical music tradition...

, etc.), because of its quality for adding friction to the hair. Ballet dancers may apply crushed rosin to their shoes to increase grip on a slippery floor.

Resin has also been used as a medium for sculpture by artists such as Eva Hesse

Eva Hesse

Eva Hesse , was a German-born American sculptor, known for her pioneering work in materials such as latex, fiberglass, and plastics. -Early life:Hesse was born into a family of observant Jews in Hamburg, Germany...

, and in other types of artwork.

In the early 1990s, most ten-pin bowling

Ten-pin bowling

Ten-pin bowling is a competitive sport in which a player rolls a bowling ball down a wooden or synthetic lane with the objective of scoring points by knocking down as many pins as possible.-Summary:The lane is bordered along its length by semicylindrical channels Ten-pin bowling (commonly just...

ball manufacturers started adding resin particles to the covers of bowling balls. Resin makes a bowling ball tackier than it would otherwise be, increasing its ability to hook

Hook (bowling)

A hook in ten-pin bowling is a ball that rolls in a curving pattern The purpose of the hook is to give the ball a better angle at the 1-3 pocket or 1-2 pocket When a ball is rolled straight, hitting the pocket must be precise...

into the pins at an angle and (with correct technique) making strikes easier to achieve.

Chemistry

Derivatives

Uses

See also