Xylitol pentanitrate (XPN) is a nitrated ester primary explosive[3][4] first synthesized in 1891 by Gabriel Bertrand.

When heated to 163 °C, liquid xylitol pentanitrate begins to crackle and produce a dark vapour.

When decomposed, a gram of XPN produces 200 mL of gas, which makes it a high performance explosive.

[3] Rotter impact analysis of XPN found a figure of insensitiveness of 25 (RDX = 80).

XPN displayed a similar sensitivity to static discharge to ETN and PETN.