DICTIONARY OF AUTOMOTIVE TERMS - "Xy"

Xylene

(C6H4(CH3)2) Colorless liquid of the aromatic group of hydrocarbons made from the catalytic reforming of certain naphthenic petroleum fractions. Used as high-octane motor and aviation gasoline blending agents, solvents, chemical intermediates. Isomers are metaxylene, orthoxylene, paraxylene. Highly valued as a Petrochemical feedstock. Xylene is highly photochemically reactive and, as a constituent of tailpipe emissions, is a contributor to smog formation.