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Retene, methyl isopropyl phenanthrene or 1-methyl-7-isopropyl phenanthrene, C18H18, is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon present in the coal tar fraction, boiling above 360 °C. It occurs naturally in the obtained by the distillation of . It crystallizes in large plates, which melt at 98.5 °C and boil at 390 °C. It is readily soluble in warm diethyl ether and in hot glacial acetic acid. Sodium and boiling amyl alcohol reduce it to a tetrahydroretene, but if it heated with phosphorus and hydriodic acid to 260 °C, a dodecahydride is formed. Chromic acid oxidizes it to retene quinone, phthalic acid and acetic acid. It forms a picrate that melts at 123-124 °C.
Retene is derived by degradation of specific biologically produced by conifer trees. The presence of traces of retene in the air is an indicator of ; it is a major product of pyrolysis of conifer trees. It is also present in from wood pulp and .
Retene, together with cadalene, simonellite and ip-iHMN, is a biomarker of , which makes it useful for paleobotanic analysis of rock . The ratio of retene/cadalene in sediments can reveal the ratio of the genus Pinaceae in the biosphere.
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