Abstract: In this paper, three kinds of rosin-based macroporous adsorption resins with carboxyl group (-COOH), ester group (-OR) and hydroxyl group (-OH) were synthesized. The adsorption characteristics of the three resins for Panax notoginseng saponins were investigated by static adsorption method. The results showed that the adsorption effect of the macroporous resin with -COOH as functional group was the best, the adsorption process accorded with the Langmuir model, and the adsorption kinetics was more consistent with the quasi-second order equation, the adsorption thermodynamic parameters ΔS was 159.46 J·mol⁻¹·K⁻¹, ΔH was 30.73 kJ·mol⁻¹, indicating that the adsorption was a spontaneous endothermic process driven by entropy. When Panax notoginseng saponins were desorbed with 40% ethanol, the purity of Panax notoginseng saponins could be increased from 35.37% to 74.56%. The adsorption capacity of the resin was almost unchanged after being reused for 10 times. Through quantum chemical calculation, it was proved that the excellent performance of the macroporous adsorption resin with-COOH as functional group in the adsorption of Panax notoginseng saponins was mainly due to the role of hydrogen bond. The cytotoxicity test showed that the resin was safe and environmentally friendly, and the safety of the resin was better than that of the commercial resin D-101. Therefore, the prepared rosin-based macroporous resin with carboxyl groups was suitable for the separation and purification of Panax notoginseng saponins, and had certain application prospects.