Retene
Encyclopedia : R : RE : RET : Retene
Retene, methyl isopropyl phenanthrene or 1-methyl-7-isopropyl phenanthrene, C18H18, is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon present in the coal tar fraction, boiling above 36 °Celsius. It occurs naturally. It also occurs in the tars obtained by the distillation of resinous woods. It crystallizes in large plates, which melt at 98.5 °C and boil at 390 °C. It is readily soluble in warm ether and in hot glacial acetic acid. Sodium and boiling amyl alcohol reduce it to a tetrahydroretene, whilst if it be 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 which melts at 123-124 °C. Its CAS number is [483-65-8][link] and its SMILES structure is CC1=CC=CC2=C1 C=CC3=C2C=C C(C(C)C)=C3.
The presence of traces of retene in the air is an indicator of forest fires; it is a major product of pyrolysis of conifer trees. [link] It is also present in effluents from wood pulp and paper mills. Retene, together with cadalene and ip-iHMN, is a biomarker of higher plants, which makes it useful for paleobotanic analysis of rock sediments.
References
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.