Objective To develop a method for identifying abietic acid illegally added in Gujinwan Capsules.

Conclusion the method is simple and accurate, which can be used for the identification of abietic acid illegally added in Gujinwan Capsules.

Dodecanol abietate succinic anhydride was synthesized from abietic acid. The structures of products were characterized by spectrum of IR, HNMR and MS.