Crystal structure of olivetolic acid: a natural product from Cetrelia sanguinea (Schaer.).

The title compound, C12H16O4 (systematic name: 2,4-dihy-droxy-6-pentyl-benzoic acid) is a natural product isolated from C. sanguinea (Schaer.) and is reported to have various pharmacological activities. The mol-ecule is approximately planar (r.m.s. deviation for the non-H atoms = 0.096 Å) and features an intra-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bond. In the crystal, each olivetolic acid mol-ecule is connected to three neighbours via O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, generating (10-1) sheets. This crystal is essentially isostructural with a related resorcinolic acid with a longer alkyl chain.