This substance demonstrated the ability to turn litmus paper red and, when interacting with alkali, decomposed into carbon dioxide and phenol-like compounds.

Siegfried Huneck renamed it confluentinic acid in 1962, characterising it as optically inactive, with distinct colour reactions and solubility properties, and determined its molecular formula as C28H36O8.

Additionally, an alternative visual detection method involves examining the lichen's thallus or apothecium (fruiting body) under a microscope on a slide treated with potassium hydroxide, which reveals oil droplets indicative of confluentic acid.

The synthesis culminated in the removal of protecting groups and hydrogenolysis over palladised carbon to yield the desired depsides including confluentic acid.

[4] In 1993, G. Fegie and colleagues introduced a standardised high-performance liquid chromatographic method that enabled the separation and detection of hundreds of lichen products, confluentic acid included.

[12] Not just limited to lichen-forming fungi, confluentic acid has also been reported from the Brazilian plant Himatanthus sucuuba, highlighting the compound's broader biological distribution.

[13] A study on Cryptothecia rubrocincta reveals distinct biochemical compositions in various parts of its thallus, suggesting specialised roles for the compounds present.

Specifically, confluentic acid was found exclusively in localised brown flecks within the red and pink zones of the thallus, alongside calcium oxalate monohydrate.

While the exact function of confluentic acid in these localised brown flecks remains unclear, it is indicated that it is not required for radiation protection.

The study also highlights a transition within the lichen from calcium oxalate dihydrate to the more stable monohydrate form, associated with the ageing process and possibly the metabolic activities involving confluentic acid.

This method involves placing a section of the lichen's thallus or apothecium (fruiting body) on a microscope slide, which is then saturated with a 10% potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution.

When examined under a compound microscope at 40x magnification, a distinctive 'halo' of small oil droplets or bubbles emanating from the tissue section indicates the presence of confluentic acid.