X‐Ray Crystal Structure and Antioxidant Activity of Salidroside, a Phenylethanoid Glycoside

The X‐ray single‐crystal structure of natural salidroside (=2‐(4‐hydroxyphenyl)ethyl β ‐ D ‐glucopyranoside; 1 ), isolated from Cistanche deserticola , is reported for the first time, as well as its absolute configuration. The radical‐scavenging activity of 1 towards the superoxide radical anion (O $_{2}^{{\cdot} -}$ ) was determined experimentally by chemiluminescence measurements of the pyrogallol–luminol system, and compared to that of the corresponding aglycone, i.e. , tyrosol (=4‐(2‐hydroxyethyl)phenol; 2 ).