Resin acid refers to mixtures of several related
carboxylic acids, primarily
abietic acid, found in tree
resins. Nearly all resin acids have the same basic skeleton: three fused ring fused with the empirical formula C
19H
29COOH. Resin acids are tacky, yellowish gums that are water-insoluble. They are used to produce soaps for diverse applications, but their use is being displaced increasingly by synthetic acids such as
2-ethylhexanoic acid or petroleum-derived
naphthenic acids.