GC/MS analysis of MTBE, ETBE, and TAME in gasolines

Journal Article · Tue Mar 15 04:00:00 EST 1994 · Analytical Chemistry (Washington); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/ac00078a027· OSTI ID:7019660

Kanai, Hiromitsu; Yazawa, L; Maka, J ^[1]; Inouye, V ^[2]; Goo, R ^[3]; Chow, R ^[4]

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1. Hawaii State Department of Agriculture, Honolulu, HI (United States)
2. Hawaiian Electric Industries, Honolulu, HI (United States)
3. City and County of Honolulu, HI (United States)
4. Hawaii State Department of Health, Honolulu, HI (United States)

To improve octane performance and reduce emissions, MTBE and to lesser degree ETBE and TAME are blended into gasolines. These oxygenates coelute with hydrocarbon components of gasoline in GC analysis. It is known that oxonium ions are formed in the electron impact mass spectrometry of aliphatic alcohols and ethers. The base ions of t-BuOH, MTBE, ETBE, TAME, and BEE are either m/z 59 or 73 ions, and fragment ions of alkanes, alkenes, and naphthenes are at m/z 41, 43, 55, 57, 69, 71, 83, and 88. The maximum background m/z 59 and 73 ion abundances of three diluted (1:20) gasolines which are used to determine percent oxygenates in gasoline were less than 0.04% that of the lowest analyte standard used to determine the linear regression coefficients of these ethers. The background m/z 59 and 73 traces of undiluted gasoline were also studied. An ACN/gasoline partitioning cleanup technique was used to remove hydrocarbon interferences of less than 2% (v/v) oxygenated gasoline prior to identification by GC/MS. 14 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab.

• OSTI ID: 7019660
• Journal Information: Analytical Chemistry (Washington); (United States), Journal Name: Analytical Chemistry (Washington); (United States) Vol. 66:6; ISSN ANCHAM; ISSN 0003-2700
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
023000 -- Petroleum-- Properties & Composition
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400100 -- Analytical & Separations Chemistry
400102 -- Chemical & Spectral Procedures
400201* -- Chemical & Physicochemical Properties
ALCOHOLS
BUTANOLS
CALIBRATION
CHROMATOGRAPHY
CONTROL
ETHERS
FUELS
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
GASOLINE
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
KNOCK CONTROL
LIQUID FUELS
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SPECTROSCOPY