The reduction of automotive emissions and the reformulation of gasoline composition require a better understanding of the combustion mechanism, in particular aiming at the determination of the influential reactions which are responsible for the onset of knock in spark ignition engines. We have studied the oxidation mechanism of two hydrocarbons of different research octane number: n-pentane (62) and cyclopentane (100). This work follows a previous study on the oxidation of n-heptane and isooctane. The experimental study was performed at 873 K in a jet-stirred flow reaction vessel. The reaction mechanisms of n-pentane and cyclopentane were analysed on a purely kinetic basis, derived from our experimental results, and were finally modelled by using a programme of simulation of reaction mechanisms. The different behaviour of these two hydrocarbons with respect to autoignition phenomena is mainly dependent on the relative concentration of resonance-stabilized radicals in the reaction medium. Keywords: oxidation reaction, n-pentane, cyclopentane, modelling, autoignition.

The different behaviour of hydrocarbons with respect to autoignition phenomena is, at present, not yet fully explained. We have therefore investigated the oxidation of two alkanes that have different octane numbers: neopentane (85.5) and isopentane (92.3), to obtain a better understanding of their reaction mechanisms, in particular, those reactions that are responsible for the onset of knock in spark ignition engines. The experimental study was performed at 873 K in a jet-stirred flow reaction vessel. The oxidation mechanisms were simplified by using the CHEMKIN programme of simulation of reaction mechanisms. These mechanisms were compared to those accounting for the oxidation of n-pentane, cyclopentane, n-heptane, and isooctane that we have previously studied. This comparison shows that the different behaviour of these hydrocarbons can be explained, at least in part, by the presence, in the reaction medium, of resonance-stabilized radicals.Key words: oxidation, neopentane, isopentane, autoignition, modelling.