This work investigates the similarities/differences of one-dimensional, laminar, atmospheric pressure premixed ethylbenzene flames at their soot onset threshold (phi(critical)). The goals of this investigation are to contrast the entire temperature profiles of the flames at various critical equivalence ratios, phi(critical). and to report on hydrocarbon specie profiles. Liquid ethylbenzene was pre-vaporized in nitrogen, blended with an oxygen-nitrogen mixture and, upon ignition, premixed flat flames were stabilized over a burner at atmospheric pressure. The C/O ratio was regulated and simultaneously the temperature profile was adjusted by varying the heat lost from the flame to the burner, to obtain visually similar flames, all at their apparent soot onset limit. Temperature profiles of five such flames were determined with thermocouples. The results indicate that as the axial temperature profiles in the flames rose, phi(critical) ((C/O)(critical)) also increased. Sampling was performed at various heights along the axes of three of these flames (phi(c1) = 1.68, phi(c2) = 1.74 and phi(c3) = 1.83) to monitor changes in chemical speciation. The mole fractions of CO increased in the order of increasing equivalence ratio and hence increasing flame temperature. The CO2 mole fractions of the three flames were similar. However, the mole fractions of light hydrocarbons and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), which are suspected soot precursors, decreased in the order of increasing equivalence ratio and hence increasing flame temperature. Whereas direct measurements of particulate matter in the flame were not made in this work, these observations on soot precursors along with theoretical flame emissivity considerations suggest that particulate loadings at the sooting limit also decreased in the order of increasing equivalence ratio and hence increasing flame temperature. (C) 2008 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.