Methyl tert-butyl ether, abbreviated as MTBE in English, has a melting point of-109℃ and a boiling point of 55.2℃. It is a colorless and transparent liquid with high octane number and has an odor similar to ether. It is an ideal blending component for producing unleaded, high octane number and oxygenated gasoline, and is widely used in the world as a gasoline additive. It can not only effectively improve the octane number of gasoline, but also improve the performance of automobile, reduce the content of CO in tail gas and reduce the production cost of gasoline. In addition, MTBE is also an important chemical raw material, for example, high-purity isobutylene can be prepared by cracking. MTBE is an organic ether with an oxygen content of 18.2%. Its steam is heavier than air, can spread along the ground, and can burn in the presence of strong oxidant. The purity of MTBE is about 97%~99.5%, and its molecular formula is CH3OC(CH3)3.

Methyl tert-butyl ether is a high octane number gasoline additive (research octane number 1 15). The chemical oxygen content is much lower than that of methanol, which is beneficial to warm the car and save fuel. Low latent heat of evaporation is beneficial to cold start. It is usually used to blend unleaded gasoline and low lead oil. It can also be cracked into isobutylene, which can be used as raw material for rubber and other chemical products.

MTBE is a high octane gasoline component, and its basic octane number RON: 1 18 and MON: 100 are excellent high octane gasoline additives and antiknock agents. MTBE and gasoline can be dissolved in any proportion without delamination. When MTBE is blended with gasoline components, the blending effect is good, and the blending octane number is higher than its net octane number. MTBE has relatively high oxygen content, which can significantly improve automobile exhaust emissions. However, if the addition ratio of MTBE is not well controlled and the theoretical equivalent air-fuel ratio exceeds the adjustment range of the electronic control unit of the closed-loop control engine, the closed-loop control will be disturbed due to oxygen enrichment and the conversion efficiency of the three-way catalytic converter will be reduced. The study also found that MTBE will pollute groundwater sources, so California and other places in the United States are ready to ban MTBE. Research by a Japanese research institute also shows that the content of MTBE in gasoline exceeds 7%, and the nitrogen oxides in automobile exhaust will increase. Therefore, the addition of MTBE in Japanese premium unleaded gasoline should not exceed 7%. MTBE has good chemical stability and physical stability, and it is not easy to produce peroxide in air. MTBE is very toxic and will not cause serious health problems during production and use. However, groundwater pollution has been very harmful for thousands of years and is a high pollutant.