Originally Posted by bamba

I hate to be a stickler for details, but there's a huge difference between toluene and acetone. As you said, toluene is an aromatic hydrocarbon (a conjugated system of delocalized pi-bonds -- here, the 6-carbon ring with alternating single- and double-bonds makes toluene aromatic).



On the other hand, acetone is completely different. It is not aromatic -- no conjugated pi-bonds, no delocalized electrons, etc.


Aromatics like toluene are relatively stable (and therefore less reactive) compared to acetone (a simple type of ketone), which is highly reactive. By adding toluene to fuel, whether gas or diesel, you are adding more hydrocarbons that will burn (toluene naturally occurs in gas and diesel). Acetone, if anything, may react with some hydrocarbons to break them into smaller fragments. It also is highly attracted to water and other oxygen-containing molecules.

Sorry -- I don't mean to come across as preaching. I find fuel additives and alternative fuels to be interesting topics. I just took a year of organic chemistry in college, and I have a nerdy fascination with all this stuff...