Phenol-type components, such as butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), are used as antioxidants (AOs) to enhance the thermo-oxidative stability of kerosene-type Jet A-1 fuel. Although the antioxidative effect of BHT is well known and often published, there is far less information about the degradation products of BHT in fuels and their impact on stability toward oxidation. In order to monitor a time-resolved depletion of BHT in model kerosene, an artificial alteration method adapted for regular sampling was applied. Subsequently, the molecular structure of degradation products of BHT was identified by gas chromatography with electron impact ionization mass spectrometry (GC-EI-MS). For the quantification of the residual BHT as well as the two representatives of degradation products, namely, 3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (HBA) and 2,6-di-tert-butyl-p-benzoquinone (BQ), an analytical technique comprising a GC-EI triple quadrupole mass spectrometer run in the MS/MS mode was developed. The limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantification (LOQ) for BHT, BQ, and HBA were determined below 1 ppb. The formation of BQ and HBA was observed shortly after the nascent degradation of BHT, while an increase of oxidation products derived from the fuel ascended remarkably after a full depletion of both the initial AO BHT and the monitored oxidation products BQ and HBA. As the evolution of BQ and HBA followed a characteristic trend, these compounds can be used as markers to reliably predict the residual time until a total consumption or a predefined threshold of BHT is reached. This way, the quality management of in-service or stored kerosene-type fuels is enhanced.

中文翻译：

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通过GC-EI-MS / MS对模型燃料中的酚类抗氧化剂和氧化产物进行时间分辨定量

诸如丁基化羟基甲苯（BHT）之类的酚类成分被用作抗氧化剂（AOs），以增强煤油型Jet A-1燃料的热氧化稳定性。尽管BHT的抗氧化作用是众所周知的并且经常发布，但是关于BHT在燃料中的降解产物及其对氧化稳定性的影响的信息却很少。为了监测模型煤油中BHT的时间分辨消耗，采用了适用于常规采样的人工更改方法。随后，通过气相色谱-电子碰撞电离质谱（GC-EI-MS）鉴定了BHT降解产物的分子结构。用于残差BHT的量化以及降解产物的两位代表，即，3,5-二-叔丁基-4-羟基苯甲醛（HBA）和2,6-二-叔丁基- p开发了一种苯并醌（BQ），这是一种包括以MS / MS模式运行的GC-EI三重四极杆质谱仪的分析技术。确定BHT，BQ和HBA的检测限（LOD）和定量限（LOQ）低于1 ppb。在BHT刚开始降解后不久就观察到BQ和HBA的形成，而在初始AO BHT和监测的氧化产物BQ和HBA完全耗尽后，源自燃料的氧化产物的增加显着上升。由于BQ和HBA的演变遵循特征趋势，因此这些化合物可用作标记，以可靠地预测剩余时间，直到达到BHT的总消耗量或预定义的阈值为止。这样，可以提高在役或储存的煤油类燃料的质量管理。