Kinetic Study of OH Radical Reactions with Cyclopentenone Derivatives

We investigated the reactions of the hydroxyl radical (OH) with cyclopentenone derivatives and cyclopentanone in a quasi-static reaction cell at 4 Torr across a 300-500 K temperature range. The OH radicals were generated using pulsed laser photolysis of hydrogen peroxide vapors, and the ketone reactants were introduced in excess. The relative concentrations of the radicals were monitored as a function of reaction time using laser-induced fluorescence. At room temperature, the reaction rate coefficients were measured to be 1.2(±0.1) × 10-11 cm3 s-1 for reaction with 2-cyclopenten-1-one (R1); 1.7(±0.2) × 10-11 cm3 s-1 for reaction with 2-methyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one (R2); and 4.4(±0. 7) × 10-12 cm3 s-1 for reaction with 3-methyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one (R3). Over the experimental temperature range, the rate coefficients can be fitted with the modified Arrhenius expressions k1(T) = 1.2 × 10-11 (T/300)0.26 exp (6.7 kJ mol-1/R {1/T - 1/300}) cm3 s-1, k2(T) = 1.7 × 10-11 (T/300)6.4 exp (27.6 kJ mol-1/R {1/T - 1/300}) cm3 s-1, k3(T) = 4.4 × 10-12 (T/300)17.8 exp (57.8 kJ mol-1/R {1/T - 1/300}) cm3 s-1. In the cases of 2-cyclopenten-1-one and 2-methyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one, the temperature dependence of the rate coefficients is similar to that calculated or measured for noncyclic conjugated ketones. We also found that the reaction with 3-methyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one was slower, with rate coefficients similar to those measured for the reaction with the saturated cyclic ketone cyclopentanone. To discuss the experimental data, we use potential energy surfaces (PES) calculated at the CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ//M06-2X/6-311+G** level of theory. RRKM-based Master equation calculations were also performed to infer the most likely reaction products over a wide range of temperatures and pressures. We suggest that both abstraction and addition mechanisms contribute to the overall OH removal, forming radical products stabilized by resonance. We also discuss the relevance for combustion and atmospheric chemistry.

Influence of Wildfire on Urban Ozone: An Observationally Constrained Box Modeling Study at a Site in the Colorado Front Range

Increasing trends in biomass burning emissions significantly impact air quality in North America. Enhanced mixing ratios of ozone (O3) in urban areas during smoke-impacted periods occur through transport of O3 produced within the smoke or through mixing of pyrogenic volatile organic compounds (PVOCs) with urban nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2) to enhance local O3 production. Here, we analyze a set of detailed chemical measurements, including carbon monoxide (CO), NOx, and speciated volatile organic compounds (VOCs), to evaluate the effects of smoke transported from relatively local and long-range fires on O3 measured at a site in Boulder, Colorado, during summer 2020. Relative to the smoke-free period, CO, background O3, OH reactivity, and total VOCs increased during both the local and long-range smoke periods, but NOx mixing ratios remained approximately constant. These observations are consistent with transport of PVOCs (comprised primarily of oxygenates) but not NOx with the smoke and with the influence of O3 produced within the smoke upwind of the urban area. Box-model calculations show that local O3 production during all three periods was in the NOx-sensitive regime. Consequently, this locally produced O3 was similar in all three periods and was relatively insensitive to the increase in PVOCs. However, calculated NOx sensitivities show that PVOCs substantially increase O3 production in the transition and NOx-saturated (VOC-sensitive) regimes. These results suggest that (1) O3 produced during smoke transport is the main driver for O3 increases in NOx-sensitive urban areas and (2) smoke may cause an additional increase in local O3 production in NOx-saturated (VOC-sensitive) urban areas. Additional detailed VOC and NOx measurements in smoke impacted urban areas are necessary to broadly quantify the effects of wildfire smoke on urban O3 and develop effective mitigation strategies.

Novel Analysis to Quantify Plume Crosswind Heterogeneity Applied to Biomass Burning Smoke

We present a novel method, the Gaussian observational model for edge to center heterogeneity (GOMECH), to quantify the horizontal chemical structure of plumes. GOMECH fits observations of short-lived emissions or products against a long-lived tracer (e.g., CO) to provide relative metrics for the plume width (w_i/w_CO) and center (b_i/w_CO). To validate GOMECH, we investigate OH and NO₃ oxidation processes in smoke plumes sampled during FIREX-AQ (Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality, a 2019 wildfire smoke study). An analysis of 430 crosswind transects demonstrates that nitrous acid (HONO), a primary source of OH, is narrower than CO (w_HONO/w_CO = 0.73-0.84 ± 0.01) and maleic anhydride (an OH oxidation product) is enhanced on plume edges (w_{maleicanhydride}/w_CO = 1.06-1.12 ± 0.01). By contrast, NO₃ production [P(NO₃)] occurs mainly at the plume center (w_P(NO3)/w_CO = 0.91-1.00 ± 0.01). Phenolic emissions, highly reactive to OH and NO₃, are narrower than CO (w_phenol/w_CO = 0.96 ± 0.03, w_catechol/w_CO = 0.91 ± 0.01, and w_{methylcatechol}/w_CO = 0.84 ± 0.01), suggesting that plume edge phenolic losses are the greatest. Yet, nitrophenolic aerosol, their oxidation product, is the greatest at the plume center (w_{nitrophenolicaerosol}/w_CO = 0.95 ± 0.02). In a large plume case study, GOMECH suggests that nitrocatechol aerosol is most associated with P(NO₃). Last, we corroborate GOMECH with a large eddy simulation model which suggests most (55%) of nitrocatechol is produced through NO₃ in our case study.

Kinetic fall-off behavior for the Cl + Furan-2,5-dione (C4H2O3, maleic anhydride) reaction

Rate coefficients, k, for the gas-phase Cl + Furan-2,5-dione (C4H2O3, maleic anhydride) reaction were measured over the 15-500 torr (He and N2 bath gas) pressure range at temperatures between 283 and 323 K. Kinetic measurements were performed using pulsed laser photolysis (PLP) to produce Cl atoms and atomic resonance fluorescence (RF) to monitor the Cl atom temporal profile. Complementary relative rate (RR) measurements were performed at 296 K and 620 torr pressure (syn. air) and found to be in good agreement with the absolute measurements. A Troe-type fall-off fit of the temperature and pressure dependence yielded the following rate coefficient parameters: ko(T) = (9.4 ± 0.5) × 10-29 (T/298)-6.3 cm6 molecule-2 s-1, k∞(T) = (3.4 ± 0.5) × 10-11 (T/298)-1.4 cm3 molecule-1 s-1. The formation of a Cl·C4H2O3 adduct intermediate was deduced from the Cl atom temporal profiles and an equilibrium constant, KP(T), for the Cl + C4H2O3 ↔ Cl·C4H2O3 reaction was determined. A third-law analysis yielded ΔH = -15.7 ± 0.4 kcal mol-1 with ΔS = -25.1 cal K-1 mol-1, where ΔS was derived from theoretical calculations at the B3LYP/6-311G(2d,p,d) level. In addition, the rate coefficient for the Cl·C4H2O3 + O2 reaction at 296 K was measured to be (2.83 ± 0.16) × 10-12 cm3 molecule-1 s-1, where the quoted uncertainty is the 2σ fit precision. Stable end-product molar yields of (83 ± 7), (188 ± 10), and (65 ± 10)% were measured for CO, CO2, and HC(O)Cl, respectively, in an air bath gas. An atmospheric degradation mechanism for C4H2O3 is proposed based on the observed product yields and theoretical calculations of ring-opening pathways and activation barrier energies at the CBS-QB3 level of theory.