Incensole acetate

A study in mice found that it activates TRPV3 channels in the brain, with anxiolytic-like effects; its authors suggest this “may” bear on religious traditions. What it means for people burning the resin is not established.

Read the essay · The material

In your room

A model you can turn here or place in your room with a phone. Nothing is fetched until you ask; nothing is stored or sent. Everything you can place in a room.

molecule

The incensole acetate molecule

A computed 3D conformer , modeled, not a photograph of a molecule. PubChem CID 53386731.

To place it in your room, open this page on an iPhone or iPad (AR Quick Look) or an Android phone (Google Scene Viewer). The files below open in any 3D viewer.

PubChem’s computed 3D conformer of incensole acetate (CID 53386731, conformer 032E9DEB00000001): the shape a computer model gives the molecule, not an experimental structure and not a picture of a real molecule. Ball and stick: 22 carbon, 3 oxygen; the 36 hydrogen atoms are left out for clarity. The balls are drawn smaller than the atoms’ real reach; a double bond is two sticks, side by side.

In the room

scaled so that one ångström is 4 cm (about 400 million times life size): 27.6 cm tall, 38.2 cm across

Atoms

22 carbon, 3 oxygen · 26 bonds between them

Colours

carbon: ink sepia-2; oxygen: rose highlight; bonds: brass. Colour is a convention here and never carries the meaning alone: the letters on the drawing and this list say which atom is which.

Source

PubChem, CID 53386731 (National Center for Biotechnology Information), its computed 3D conformer as filed on this record

Licence

PubChem’s data are public (NCBI); the model and its drawing were made for this site from those coordinates

The files GLB 25 KB · USDZ 61 KB · the drawing (SVG) 8 KB

The record

Each field carries its evidence: open a chip for the source, the quoted words and the confidence. A field with nothing behind it says so and stays empty.

Name

incensole acetate

documented

Incensole acetate

PUBCHEM-53386731 · PubChem Compound Summary for CID 53386731, Incensole acetate · read 2026-09-30

confidence A

CAS

34701-53-6

documented

34701-53-6

PUBCHEM-53386731 · PubChem Compound Summary for CID 53386731, Incensole acetate · read 2026-09-30

among the CID’s PubChem synonyms, and PubChem resolves it back to this CID

confidence A

PubChem CID

53386731

documented

PUBCHEM-53386731 · PubChem Compound Summary for CID 53386731, Incensole acetate · read 2026-09-30

confidence A

Formula

C22H36O3

documented

PUBCHEM-53386731 · PubChem Compound Summary for CID 53386731, Incensole acetate · read 2026-09-30

confidence A

Molecular weight

348.5

documented

PUBCHEM-53386731 · PubChem Compound Summary for CID 53386731, Incensole acetate · read 2026-09-30

g/mol, as PubChem states it

confidence A

IUPAC name

[(1R,2S,5E,9E,12S)-1,5,9-trimethyl-12-propan-2-yl-15-oxabicyclo[10.2.1]pentadeca-5,9-dien-2-yl] acetate

documented

PUBCHEM-53386731 · PubChem Compound Summary for CID 53386731, Incensole acetate · read 2026-09-30

confidence A

SMILES

C/C/1=C\CC/C(=C/C[C@@]2(CC[C@@](O2)([C@H](CC1)OC(=O)C)C)C(C)C)/C

documented

PUBCHEM-53386731 · PubChem Compound Summary for CID 53386731, Incensole acetate · read 2026-09-30

confidence A

InChIKey

HVBACKJYWZTKCA-XSLBTUIJSA-N

documented

PUBCHEM-53386731 · PubChem Compound Summary for CID 53386731, Incensole acetate · read 2026-09-30

confidence A

Odour threshold

withheld: not on record

withheld

no odour-threshold measurement is filed: OT-1 has no entry and the study on file (GC-17) measures pharmacology, not odour (the house’s review, 2026-09-30)

Descriptors

not on record

not on record

no descriptor on record: no house wording on a data file, no descriptor source filed

Volatility class

not on record

not on record

the house’s volatility table (modeled) has no entry for incensole acetate

Regulation

not on record

not on record

no Regulation record yet

3D structure

PubChem computed 3D conformer · 61 atoms, 62 bonds

modeled

PUBCHEM-53386731 · PubChem Compound Summary for CID 53386731, Incensole acetate · read 2026-09-30

PubChem’s computed 3D conformer (the 3D SDF record): a model, drawn schematically, not an experimental structure

confidence A

Occurs in

• frankincense (the oleo-gum resin of Boswellia; olibanum)
  documented · no share

  isolated from B. sacra gum resin (cited by GC-16)

  confidence B

Claims register

Every sentence and number the site states about this record, with its status after the 2026-09-27 review.

• softened · Laboratory studies in animals have reported effects of incensole acetate, a compound in the resin; what that means for people burning it is not established. (was: Recent neuroscience research suggests incensole acetate (a compound in frankincense) has psychoactive properties, activating TRPV3 receptors and potentially explaining the contemplative states reported during religious burning.)
  documented · the claims register

  GC-17 · Moussaieff et al. (2008). Incensole acetate, an incense component, elicits psychoactivity by activating TRPV3 channels in the brain · read 2026-09-30

  GC-17 (abstract): incensole acetate, “a Boswellia resin constituent”, is a TRPV3 agonist with anxiolytic-like and antidepressive-like effects in mice (GC-17); the authors’ own hedge is “may provide a biological basis” (GC-17). The softened sentence is supported as it stands

  where the site says it: /materials, “Omani Frankincense”

  confidence A

Sources

1. PUBCHEM-53386731 · PubChem Compound Summary for CID 53386731, Incensole acetate ([(1R,2S,5E,9E,12S)-1,5,9-trimethyl-12-propan-2-yl-15-oxabicyclo[10.2.1]pentadeca-5,9-dien-2-yl] acetate). National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), U.S. National Library of Medicine; live database, read 2026-09-30 through the PUG REST endpoints (no account): https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/rest/pug/compound/name/incensole%20acetate/cids/JSON · https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/rest/pug/compound/cid/53386731/property/MolecularFormula,MolecularWeight,IUPACName,Title,SMILES,InChIKey/JSON · https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/rest/pug/compound/cid/53386731/synonyms/JSON · https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/rest/pug/compound/cid/53386731/SDF?record_type=3d · https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/rest/pug/compound/name/34701-53-6/cids/JSON. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/53386731 · read 2026-09-30 · public domain (US government work, NCBI/NLM); acknowledgement requested , cite PubChem
2. GC-16 · Miran M, Amirshahrokhi K, Ajanii Y, Zadali R, Rutter MW, Enayati A, Movahedzadeh F. Taxonomical Investigation, Chemical Composition, Traditional Use in Medicine, and Pharmacological Activities of Boswellia sacra Flueck. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2022;2022:8779676. DOI 10.1155/2022/8779676. PMID 35222678. PMCID PMC8881160. doi.org/10.1155/2022/8779676 · read 2026-09-30 · CC BY 4.0
3. GC-17 · Moussaieff A, Rimmerman N, Bregman T, Straiker A, Felder CC, Shoham S, Kashman Y, Huang SM, Lee H, Shohami E, Mackie K, Caterina MJ, Walker JM, Fride E, Mechoulam R. Incensole acetate, an incense component, elicits psychoactivity by activating TRPV3 channels in the brain. The FASEB Journal 2008;22(8):3024–3034. DOI 10.1096/fj.07-101865. PMID 18492727. PMCID PMC2493463. doi.org/10.1096/fj.07-101865 · read 2026-09-30 · publisher's terms (no open licence deposited); single facts and short quotes only, under fair use (quoted, not reproduced)

Our text and structure are CC BY 4.0; quoted source text stays under its owners’ terms.

this record as data: /data/molecule/incensole-acetate.json · version 4 · updated 2026-10-01 · confidence A