Mechanistic and kinetic study of CH2O+O3 reaction

Formaldehyde Decomposition from -20 °C to Room Temperature on a Mn-Mullite YMn2O5 Catalyst

Large ambient temperature changes (-20->25 °C) bring great challenges to the purification of the indoor pollutant formaldehyde. Within such a large ambient temperature range, we herein report a manganese-based strategy, that is, a mullite catalyst (YMn₂O₅) + ozone, to efficiently remove the formaldehyde pollution. At -20 °C, the formaldehyde removal efficiency reaches 62% under the condition of 60,000 mL g_cat^-1 h^-1. As the reaction temperature is increased to -5 °C, formaldehyde and ozone are completely converted into CO₂, H₂O, and O₂, respectively. Such a remarkable performance was ascribed to the highly reactive oxygen species generated by ozone on the YMn₂O₅ surface based on the low temperature-programed desorption measurements. The in situ infrared spectra showed the intermediate product carboxyl group (-COOH) to be the key species. Based on the superior performance, we built a consumable-free air purifier equipped with mullite-coated ceramics. In the simulated indoor condition (25 °C and 30% relative humidity), the equipment can effectively decompose formaldehyde (150 m³ h^-1) without producing secondary pollutants, rivaling a commercial removal efficiency. This work provides an air purification route based on the mullite catalyst + ozone to remove formaldehyde in an ambient temperature range (-20->25 °C).

Surfactant-Assisted Ozonolysis of Alkenes in Water: Mitigation of Frothing Using Coolade as a Low-Foaming Surfactant

Aqueous-phase ozonolysis in the atmosphere is an important process during cloud and fog formation. Water in the atmosphere acts as both a reaction medium and a reductant during the ozonolysis. Inspired by the atmospheric aqueous-phase ozonolysis, we herein report the ozonolysis of alkenes in water assisted by surfactants. Several types of surfactants, including anionic, cationic, and nonionic surfactants, were investigated. Although most surfactants enhanced the solubility of alkenes in water, they also generated excessive foaming during the ozone bubbling, which led to the loss of products. Mitigation of the frothing was accomplished by using Coolade as a nonionic and low-foaming surfactant. Coolade-assisted ozonolysis of alkenes in water provided the desired carbonyl products in good yields and comparable to those achieved in organic solvents. During the ozonolysis reaction, water molecules trapped within the polyethylene glycol region of Coolade were proposed to intercept the Criegee intermediate to provide a hydroxy hydroperoxide intermediate. Decomposition of the hydroxy hydroperoxide led to formation of the carbonyl product without the need for a reductant typically required for the conventional ozonolysis using organic solvents. This study presents Coolade as an effective surfactant to improve the solubility of alkenes while mitigating frothing during the ozonolysis in water.

Kinetics of IO radicals with ethyl formate and ethyl acetate: a study using cavity ring-down spectroscopy and theoretical methods

The gas-phase kinetics of the reactions of IO radicals with ethyl formate (EF) and ethyl acetate (EA) were investigated experimentally using cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS). IO radicals were generated in situ in the CRD reaction zone by photolyzing a mixture of (CH₃I + O₃ + N₂) at 248 nm and thereby probed at 445.04 nm. The rate coefficients for the reactions (IO + EF) and (IO + EA) were measured at a total pressure of 65 Torr of N₂ in the temperature range of 258-358 and 260-360 K, respectively. The rate coefficients for the reactions (IO + EF) and (IO + EA) were measured experimentally at room temperature to be kExpt,298KIO+EF = (3.38 ± 0.67) × 10^-14 and kExpt,298KIO+EA = (1.56 ± 0.30) × 10^-13 cm³ molecule^-1 s^-1, respectively. The effects of pressure and photolysis laser fluence on the kinetics of test reactions were found to be negligible within the experimental uncertainties for the studied range. To complement our experimental findings, the kinetics of the title reactions were investigated theoretically using canonical variational transition state theory (CVT) with small curvature tunnelling (SCT) at the CCSD(T)//M06-2X/def2-SV(P) level of theory in temperatures between 200 and 400 K. Very good agreement was observed between the experimentally measured and theoretically calculated rate coefficients for both the reactions at 298 K. The thermochemical parameters as well as the branching ratios for the title reactions are also discussed in this study.

Barriometry – an enhanced database of accurate barrier heights for gas-phase reactions

The kinetics of many reactions are critically dependent upon the barrier heights for which accurate determination can be difficult. More than 100 accurate barriers are obtained with the high-level W3X-L composite procedure.

Observation of the simplest Criegee intermediate CH2OO in the gas-phase ozonolysis of ethylene

Ozonolysis is one of the dominant oxidation pathways for tropospheric alkenes. Although numerous studies have confirmed a 1,3-cycloaddition mechanism that generates a Criegee intermediate (CI) with form R1R2COO, no small CIs have ever been directly observed in the ozonolysis of alkenes because of their high reactivity. We present the first experimental detection of CH2OO in the gas-phase ozonolysis of ethylene, using Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy and a modified pulsed nozzle, which combines high reactant concentrations with rapid sampling and sensitive detection. Nine other product species of the O3 + C2H4 reaction were also detected, including formaldehyde, formic acid, dioxirane, and ethylene ozonide. The presence of all these species can be attributed to the unimolecular and bimolecular reactions of CH2OO, and their abundances are in qualitative agreement with published mechanisms and rate constants.

Mechanism and kinetics study on the ozonolysis reaction of 2,3,7,8-TCDD in the atmosphere

The ozonolysis of 2,3,7,8-tetra-chlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD) is an efficient degradation way in the atmosphere. The ozonolysis process and possible reactions path of Criegee Intermediates with NO and H2O are introduced in detail at the method of MPWB1K/6-31+G(d,p)//MPWB1K/6-311+G(3df,2p) level. In ozonolysis, H2O is an important source of OH radical formation and initiated the subsequent degradation reaction. The Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) theory was applied to calculate rate constants with the temperature ranging from 200 to 600 K. The rate constant of reaction between 2,3,7,8-TCDD and O3 is 4.80 x 10(-20) cm3/(mole x sec) at 298 K and 760 Torr. The atmospheric lifetime of the reaction species was estimated according to rate constants, which is helpful for the atmospheric model study on the degradation and risk assessment of dioxin.

Mechanistic and kinetic study on the ozonolysis of n-butyl vinyl ether, i-butyl vinyl ether and t-butyl vinyl ether

Density functional theory (DFT) and ab initio method are employed to elucidate the mechanisms for O(3)-initiated oxidation of n-butyl vinyl ether (n-BVE) and its isomers (i-BVE and t-BVE). For each BVE, the reactions proceed via O(3) cycloaddition resulting in the formation of primary ozonides (POZs) and then two self-decomposition pathways of POZs are followed. Major products are identified to be formaldehyde and butyl formates (CH(3)CH(2)CH(2)CH(2)OCHO for n-BVE, (CH(3))(2)CHCH(2)OCHO for i-BVE and (CH(3))(3)COCHO for t-BVE). The total and individual rate constants for main product channels have been calculated using the modified multichannel Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) approach. At 298 K and 101 kPa, the calculated total rate constants are 2.50×10(-16), 3.41×10(-16) and 4.17×10(-16) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1) for n-BVE+O(3), i-BVE+O(3) and t-BVE+O(3), respectively, which are in perfect agreement with experimental results. The total rate coefficients are almost pressure independent in the range of 0.001-101 kPa but obviously positive temperature dependent over the whole study temperature range (200-400 K). Also, the favorable reaction pathways have been determined through the estimation of branching ratios. Moreover, the influence of alkoxy group structure on the reactivity of vinyl ethers was examined.