Diene

In organic chemistry a diene (/ˈdaɪ.iːn/ DY-een) or diolefin (/daɪˈoʊləfᵻn/ dy-OH-lə-fin) is a hydrocarbon that contains two carbon double bonds. Dienes occur occasionally in nature. Conjugated dienes are widely used as monomers in the polymer industry.

Dienes can be divided into three classes, depending on the relative location of the double bonds:

Compounds that contain more than two double bonds are called polyenes. Polyenes and dienes share many of their properties.

On an industrial scale, butadiene is prepared by thermal cracking of butanes. In a similarly non-selective process, dicyclopentadiene is obtained from coal tars.