Methylcyclopentadienyl Manganese Tricarbonyl

MMT is also a lubricant that allows old cars designed for leaded fuel to run on
unleaded fuel, without the need for other fuel additives that prevent Valve Stem problems. MMT is added to gasoline in Canada to reduce Engine Knock , and it has recently been introduced in Australia . MMT can cause mild skin and eye irritation. MMT is highly toxic. MMT can enter the body through swallowing, breathing, and skin contact. The most common way is through skin contact. Short-term symptoms resulting from MMT poisoning include Giddiness , Headache , Nausea , tightness in chest, and difficulties in breathing. According to animal studies,
long-term exposure to MMT can result in damage to the liver and kidneys. If a child accidentally ingests after-market MMT (ie. blended in with Petrol fuel), the
result can be fatal. MMT is also very harmful to aquatic animals, so MMT should not be disposed of into stormwater, sewers, or natural waterways.

HISTORY

The Ethyl Corporation was initially founded as a joint venture between General Motors and Dupont with the sole purpose of manufacturing and marketing Tetraethyl Lead as a fuel additive. However, when the EPA began to phase out the use of leaded gasoline in 1972, new fuel additives were needed to boost the octane of gasoline. Initially marketed in 1958 as a smoke suppressant for gas turbines, it was not until 1974 that the compound was used commercially as a fuel additive in unleaded gasoline. The Clean Air Act of 1977 banned the use of MMT until the Ethyl Corporation could prove that the additive would not lead to failure of new car emissions-control systems.

The health hazards associated with MMT use have been hotly debated for decades. Most recently, a 2003 study by the NICNAS in Australia suggested that MMT was highly toxic to humans, but ruled that the airborne concentrations of MMT use as a fuel additive were not high enough to cause a major health problem. Yet, due in part to fears remaining from the environmental disaster that was leaded gasoline and questionable effects of MMT on automobile engines, MMT use in the United States as a gasoline additive has been virtually non-existant.

However, since then Clean Air Act of 1977, the Ethyl Corporation has been in a legal battle with the EPA over the effects of MMT on automobiles and not on the questions of health.

STRUCTURE AND BONDING

PREPARATION

PROPERTIES AND USES

REFERENCES

1. NICNAS Report(June 2003) , retrieved March 14, 2005.

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Methylcyclopentadienyl Manganese Tricarbonyl