Pentaerythritol tetranitrate
![Skeletal formula](/Images/godic/202502/02/PETN.svg1948.png")
![Ball-and-stick model](/Images/godic/202502/02/PETN-from-xtal-2006-3D-balls-B1948.png")
![Pentaerythritol tetranitrate after crystalization from acetone](/Images/godic/202502/02/Pentaerythritol_tetranitrate_041948.JPG")
![graphic representation of the formula C(CH2OH)4 + 4 HNO3 → C(CH2ONO2)4 + 4 H2O](/Images/godic/202502/02/Nitropenta_synthesis.svg1949.png")
Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), also known as PENT, PENTA, TEN, corpent, penthrite (or—rarely and primarily in German—as nitropenta), is the nitrate ester of pentaerythritol, and is structurally very similar to nitroglycerin. Penta refers to the five carbon atoms of the neopentane skeleton.