Antiknock agent

An antiknock agent is a gasoline additive used to reduce engine knocking and increase the fuel's octane rating by raising the temperature and pressure at which auto-ignition occurs. The mixture known as gasoline or petrol, when used in high compression internal combustion engines, has a tendency to knock (also called "pinging" or "pinking") and/or to ignite early before the correctly timed spark occurs (pre-ignition, refer to engine knocking).

Notable early antiknock agents, especially Tetraethyllead, added to gasoline included large amounts of toxic lead.^[1][2] The chemical was responsible for global negative impacts on health, and the phase out of leaded gasoline from the 1970s onward was reported by the United Nations Environmental Programme to be responsible for "$2.4 trillion in annual benefits, 1.2 million fewer premature deaths, higher overall intelligence and 58 million fewer crimes."^[3][4] Some other chemicals used as gasoline additives are thought to be less toxic.