Singlet oxygen quenching by synthetic antioxidants (BHA, BHT, and TBHQ) was directly observed by spectroscopic monitoring of luminescence at 1268 nm. The luminescence data showed unambiguous evidence of singlet oxygen quenching by synthetic phenolic antioxidants with the highest activity for TBHQ, followed by BHA and BHT. The protective activities of these synthetic antioxidants on alpha-terpinene oxidation with chemically-induced singlet oxygen under dark further confirmed their singlet oxygen quenching abilities. Total singlet oxygen quenching rate constants (k(r) + k(q)) of BHA, BHT, and TBHQ were determined in a system containing alpha-terpinene (as a singlet oxygen trap) and methylene blue (as a sensitizer) during light irradiation, and the values were 5.14 x 10(7), 3.41 x 10(6), and 1.99 x 10(8) M(-1)s(-1), respectively. After the k(r) value of alpha-terpinene was first determined, the k(r) values of the synthetic antioxidants were calculated by measuring their relative reaction rates with singlet oxygen to that of alpha-terpinene under the identical conditions. The k(r) values of the BHA, BHT, and TBHQ were 3.90 x 10(5), 1.23 x 10(5), and 2.93 x 10(6), M(-1)s(-1). The percent partition of chemical quenching over total singlet oxygen quenching (k(r) x 100)/(k(r) + k(q)) for BHA, BHT, and TBHQ were 0.76%, 3.61%, and 1.47%, respectively. The results showed that the synthetic antioxidants quench singlet oxygen almost exclusively through the mechanism of physical quenching. This represents the first report on the singlet oxygen quenching mechanism of these synthetic antioxidants. Practical Application: The synthetic antioxidants, especially TBHQ, have been found to have a strong singlet oxygen quenching ability. This article also clearly showed that singlet oxygen quenching by synthetic antioxidants was mainly by the physical quenching mechanism. The results suggested that these synthetic antioxidants, especially TBHQ, could be used practically for the protection of the food components such as edible oils and vitamins against singlet oxygen induced oxidations without significant losses of antioxidant activity during storage under light.