Probing the unusual isotope effects in ozone formation: Bath gas and pressure dependence of the non-mass-dependent isotope enrichments in ozone

Lifetimes and decay mechanisms of isotopically substituted ozone above the dissociation threshold: matching quantum and classical dynamics

Energies and lifetimes of vibrational resonances were computed for 18O-enriched isotopologue 50O3 = {16O16O18O and 16O18O16O} of the ozone molecule using hyperspherical coordinates and the method of complex absorbing potential. Various types of scattering resonances were identified, including roaming OO-O rotational states, the series corresponding to continuation of bound vibrational resonances of highly excited bending or symmetric stretching vibrational modes. Such a series become metastable above the dissociation limit. The coupling between the vibrationally excited O2 fragment and rotational roaming gives rise to Feshbach type resonances in ozone. Different paths for the formation and decay of symmetric 16O18O16O and asymmetric species 16O16O18O were also identified. The symmetry properties of the total rovibronic wave functions of the 18O-enriched isotopologues are discussed in the context of allowed dissociation channels.

Mechanism Change in the Dynamics of the O' + O2 → O'O + O Atom Exchange Reaction at High Collision Energies

The extreme velocity and the large available energy of atoms with hyperthermal kinetic energies can give rise to novel mechanisms and behavior of chemical reactions unseen at thermal conditions. Crossed-molecular-beams experiments combined with isotope labeling on the reaction of hyperthermal O atoms with O₂ molecules have provided an example of the arising complexity of such systems. Quasiclassical trajectory (QCT) calculations proved to be instructive in the exploration of the microscopic mechanism of the reactive and inelastic scattering observed, and a new mechanism has been identified: there are reactive collisions in which the potential energy remains repulsive during the entire encounter ("direct" reactions in which, in a sense, no complex is formed). In this work, the effect of the magnitude of the collision energy on this mechanism is explored. At hyperthermal collision energies, the reaction is characterized by a unique impact parameter window favorable for reaction through complex formation, while the direct collisions take place exclusively at small impact parameters. In direct reactive collisions, contributing as much as 12% to the reaction cross section, first the existing bond is broken, and the new bond is formed afterward. This kind of collision is unique to extremely high collision energies. Analysis of various correlations was used to find out the details of the reaction dynamics. The observed phenomena indicate that when the collision energy is extremely high, one can expect deviation from what an extrapolation from the more familiar energy ranges would predict.

Use of Isotope Effects To Understand the Present and Past of the Atmosphere and Climate and Track the Origin of Life

Stable isotope ratio measurements have been used as a measure of a wide variety of processes, including solar system evolution, geological formational temperatures, tracking of atmospheric gas and aerosol chemical transformation, and is the only means by which past global temperatures may be determined over long time scales. Conventionally, isotope effects derive from differences of isotopically substituted molecules in isotope vibrational energy, bond strength, velocity, gravity, and evaporation/condensation. The variations in isotope ratio, such as ¹⁸ O/¹⁶ O (δ¹⁸ O) and ¹⁷ O/¹⁶ O (δ¹⁷ O) are dependent upon mass differences with δ¹⁷ O/δ¹⁸ O=0.5, due to the relative mass differences (1 amu vs. 2 amu). Relations that do not follow this are termed mass independent and are the focus of this Minireview. In chemical reactions such as ozone formation, a δ¹⁷ O/δ¹⁸ O=1 is observed. Physical chemical models capture most parameters but differ in basic approach and are reviewed. The mass independent effect is observed in atmospheric species and used to track their chemistry at the modern and ancient Earth, Mars, and the early solar system (meteorites).

Formation of ozone by solid state reactions

We studied the isotopic composition of ozone formed at low (3-10 K) temperature via O + O2 solid state reactions using a partially dissociated 16O/16O2 : 18O/18O2 = 1 : 1 mixture. The ozone ice has an isotopic abundance that differs from the statistical one and from gas phase studies. Ozone formation is influenced by the competition of the production of O2 (O + O or O + O3) vs. O3 (O + O2) and by the energy released in the O + O reaction. The exothermicity of the O + O reaction helps to overcome the barrier of the O + O2 reaction. Heating the ozone ice past 50 K brings about a transformation from amorphous to crystalline ice. The formation of ozone on water ice yields a blue shift of IR bands, and the yield of formed O3 increases up to the sample temperature of 100 K. When 18O/18O2 is deposited on H216O ice, formation of 18O18O16O is detected. We propose that the exothermicity of the reaction 18O + 18O drives water dissociation (16O + H2) followed by ozone formation (16O + 18O2 → 16O18O18O).

Does the "reef structure" at the ozone transition state towards the dissociation exist? New insight from calculations and ultrasensitive spectroscopy experiments

Since the discovery of anomalies in ozone isotope enrichment, several fundamental issues in the dynamics linked to the shape of the potential energy surface in the transition state region have been raised. The role of the reeflike structure on the minimum energy path is an intricate question previously discussed in the context of chemical experiments. In this Letter, we bring strong arguments in favor of the absence of a submerged barrier from ultrasensitive laser spectroscopy experiments combined with accurate predictions of highly excited vibrations up to nearly 95% of the dissociation threshold.

Oxygen isotope anomaly observed in water vapor from Alert, Canada and the implication for the stratosphere

To identify the possible anomalous oxygen isotope signature in stratospheric water predicted by model studies, 25 water vapor samples were collected in 2003-2005 at Alert station, Canada (82°30'N), where there is downward transport of stratospheric air to the polar troposphere, and were analyzed for δ(17)O and δ(18)O relative to Chicago local precipitation (CLP). The latter was chosen as a reference because the relatively large evaporative moisture source should erase any possible oxygen isotope anomaly from the stratosphere. A mass-dependent fractionation coefficient for meteoric waters, λMDF(H2O) = 0.529 ± 0.003 [2σ standard error (SE)], was determined from 27 CLP samples collected in 2003-2005. An oxygen isotopic anomaly of Δ(17)O = 76 ± 16 ppm (2σ SE) was found in water vapor samples from Alert relative to CLP. We propose that the positive oxygen isotope anomalies observed at Alert originated from stratospheric ozone, were transferred to water in the stratosphere, and subsequently mixed with tropospheric water at high latitudes as the stratospheric air descended into the troposphere. On the basis of this ground signal, the average Δ(17)O in stratospheric water vapor predicted by a steady-state box model is ∼40‰. Seven ice core samples (1930-1991) from Dasuopu glacier (Himalayas, China) and Standard Light Antarctic Precipitation did not show an obvious oxygen isotope anomaly, and Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water exhibited a negative Δ(17)O relative to CLP. Six Alert snow samples collected in March 2011 and measured at Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, Gif sur Yvette, France, had (17)Oexcess of 45 ± 5 ppm (2σ SE) relative to Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water.

Unexpected variations in the triple oxygen isotope composition of stratospheric carbon dioxide

We report observations of stratospheric CO2 that reveal surprisingly large anomalous enrichments in (17)O that vary systematically with latitude, altitude, and season. The triple isotope slopes reached 1.95 ± 0.05(1σ) in the middle stratosphere and 2.22 ± 0.07 in the Arctic vortex versus 1.71 ± 0.03 from previous observations and a remarkable factor of 4 larger than the mass-dependent value of 0.52. Kinetics modeling of laboratory measurements of photochemical ozone-CO2 isotope exchange demonstrates that non-mass-dependent isotope effects in ozone formation alone quantitatively account for the (17)O anomaly in CO2 in the laboratory, resolving long-standing discrepancies between models and laboratory measurements. Model sensitivities to hypothetical mass-dependent isotope effects in reactions involving O3, O((1)D), or CO2 and to an empirically derived temperature dependence of the anomalous kinetic isotope effects in ozone formation then provide a conceptual framework for understanding the differences in the isotopic composition and the triple isotope slopes between the laboratory and the stratosphere and between different regions of the stratosphere. This understanding in turn provides a firmer foundation for the diverse biogeochemical and paleoclimate applications of (17)O anomalies in tropospheric CO2, O2, mineral sulfates, and fossil bones and teeth, which all derive from stratospheric CO2.

Theory of mass-independent fractionation of isotopes, phase space accessibility, and a role of isotopic symmetry

Key experimental and theoretical features of mass-independent fractionation (MIF) of isotopes, also known as the η-effect, are summarized, including its difference from the exit channel zero-point energy difference effect. The latter exactly cancels in the MIF. One key experimental result is that the MIF for O3 formation is a low-pressure phenomenon and, moreover, that it decreases with increasing pressure of third bodies at pressures far below the "Lindemann fall-off" pressures for three-body recombination of O and O2. A possible origin of the MIF is discussed in terms of a role for isotopologue symmetry in intramolecular energy sharing. An explanation is suggested for the large difference in the fall-off pressure for recombination and the pressure for a large decrease in MIF, in terms of a difference between deactivating collisions and what we term here "symmetry-changing collisions". It is noted that the theory of the MIF involves four recombination rate constants and an equilibrium constant, for each trace isotope, seven rate constants in all and two equilibrium constants. A conceptual shortcut is noted. Experimental and computational information that may provide added insight into the MIF mechanism and tests is described.