Effectiveness of ethynylcyclohexanol and methyl- tert -amyl ether in increasing the octane number of gasoline compositions

The purpose of this study is to systematically compare the octane-enhancing properties of the novel tertiary acetylenic alcohol (TAA) ethinylcyclohexanol (ECH) with the conventional ether methyl-tert-amyl ether (MTAE) as a gasoline additive. ECH was synthesized using a modified Favorsky reaction and blended with gasoline compositions containing varying ratios of straight-run, delayed coking, and catalytic reforming fractions. The octane number was measured using a SHATOX SX-100K octanometer. The results indicate that ECH provides significantly higher boosts in research and motor octane numbers compared to MTAE for all blend compositions tested, even at high reformate content where knock resistance becomes less sensitive to oxygenates. The comparison shows that ECH has a superior octane response compared to MTAE, indicating its potential as an alternative gasoline octane booster.