Improvements in or relating to liquid hydrocarbon fuels containing antiknock agents

摘要

A liquid hydrocarbon fuel for internal combustion engines contains, as an anti-knock ingredient, a metallic cyclopentadienyl-containing compound other than di(cyclopentadienyl) iron. The liquid hydrocarbon fuel may comprise straight-run, thermally or catalytically cracked, reformed or hydroformed hydrocarbons of the gasoline boiling range. The cyclopentadienyl compound may have the formula MRn where M is a metal, R is a cyclopentadienyl radicle (which may carry alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, alkaryl or other organic substituents) or a radicle in which the cyclopentadienyl group is fuzed to one or two alicyclic or aromatic rings (in which case both the cyclopentadienyl group and the alicyclic or aromatic rings may carry organic substituents), and n is an integer from 1 to 4. The metal M may be chosen from Groups I-VIII of the Periodic Table and the list of metals given includes boron, silicon, arsenic, antimony, selenium and tellurium. Many examples of radicles R and organic substituents therefor, and of compounds MRn are given. The fuel may also contain scavengers (e.g. halohydrocarbons), wear inhibitors (e.g. organic phosphates, such as tricresyl orthophosphate, and organic arsenides), antioxidants and organic dyes. In the examples, gasoline compositions are described which contain cyclopentadienyl thallium, fluorenyl thallium 4, 5, 6, 7 - tetrahydroindenyl thallium, di - indenyl iron, di - indenyl osmium, di - indenyl ruthenium, 3 - methyl fluorenyl gallium, 5 - phenyl indenyl indium, tri(2, 4 - diethyl cyclopentadienyl)-scandium or tetra(cyclopentadienyl) dysprosium. Specific liquid hydrocarbons mentioned as being present in the gasolines of the examples are diisobutylene, toluene, isooctane, n - heptane, isopentane, butane, solvent oil straight run gasoline, catalytically and thermally cracked gasoline, catalytically and thermally reformed gasoline, catalytic polymer gasoline, and hydroaromatic catalytically cracked gasoline.