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Orcinol is an organic compound with the formula CH3C6H3(OH)2. It occurs in many species of Robiquet: „Essai analytique des lichens de l'orseille", Annales de chimie et de physique, 1829, 42, p. 236–257. including Roccella tinctoria and Lecanora. Orcinol has been detected in the "toxic glue" of the ant species Camponotus saundersi. It is a colorless solid. It is related to resorcinol, 1,3-C6H4(OH)2.
It undergoes O-methylation with dimethylsulfate.
It is used in the production of the dye orcein and as a reagent in some chemical tests for , such as Bial's Test. It may be synthesized from toluene; more interesting is its production when acetone dicarboxylic ester is condensed with the aid of sodium. It crystallizes in colorless prisms with one molecule of water, which redden on exposure to air. Ferric chloride gives a bluish-violet coloration with the aqueous solution. Unlike resorcinol it does not give a fluorescein with phthalic anhydride. Oxidation of the ammoniacal solution gives orcein, C28H24N2O7, the chief constituent of the natural dye Orcein. 4-Methylcatechol is an isomer, found as its methyl ether (creosol) in beech-wood tar.
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