Longifolene

Longifolene is the common (or trivial) 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 tricyclic sesquiterpene. This molecule is chiral, and the enantiomer commonly found in pines and other higher plants exhibits a positive optical rotation of +42.73°. The other enantiomer (optical rotation −42.73°) is found in small amounts in some primitive plants like fungi and liverworts.Longifolene is used in organic synthesis for the preparation of dilongifolylborane, a chiral hydroborating agent.Longifolene is also one of two most abundant aroma constituents of lapsang souchong tea, due to the fact that the tea is smoked over pine fires.