This is a triterpenoid organic acid that is found in Pistacia resin, and is therefore of interest to people studying archaelogical relics, shipwrecks and the contents of ancient Egyptian jars. But why it's called moronic acid is still unknown... Derivatives of this are called moronates, as in 'which moron-ate the contents of this jar?'
Ref: P.L. Majumdar, R.N. Maity, S.K. Panda, D. Mal, M.S. Raju and E. Wenkert, J.Org.Chem. (1979) 44, 2811.
Thanks to Dr Ben Stern of Bradford University for supplying this one.
It's stuff like this that makes you realize how useful the internet really is.
