EC23 is a synthetic, photostable all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) analog/mimetic that targets RAR with greater affinity than ATRA (RARα/β/γ EC50 by cell-free TR-FRET binding assay = 3.7/3.3/16.8 with EC23 vs. 16.0/17.6/14.7 nM with ATRA) and does not bind retinoid x receptors (RXRs). EC23 induces differentiation of human pluripotent embryonic stem cells (0.1-10 µM) with a similar or better efficiency than ATRA.