In 1898, Gabriel and Ernst Leupold did a study on the byproduct and confirmed it was a new class of compound containing 4 rings.

Modern nomenclature for polyacenes, including tetracene, was introduced by Erich Clar in 1939.

[6][7] Clar also developed a new route to synthesize tetracene from the Friedel-Crafts acrylation between phthalic anhydride and tetralin catalyzed by AlCl3, ZnCl2 and NaCl involving Clemmensen reduction, forming 5,12-dihydrotetracene then dehydrogenated by chloranil to form tetracene.

[8] German physicist Jan Hendrik Schön claimed to have developed an electrically pumped laser based on tetracene during his time at Bell Labs (1997–2002).

In 2024, it was used to produce lower-energy excitations in solar cells in a process known as singlet fission.