Sulfuric acid-dimethylamine particle formation enhanced by functional organic acids: an integrated experimental and theoretical study

Atmospheric new particle formation (NPF), which has been observed globally in clean and polluted environments, is an important source of boundary-layer aerosol particles and cloud condensation nuclei, but the fundamental mechanisms leading to multi-component aerosol formation have not been well understood. Here, we use experiments and quantum chemical calculations to better understand the involvement of carboxylic acids in initial NPF from gas phase mixtures of carboxylic acid, sulfuric acid (SA), dimethylamine, and water. A turbulent flow tube coupled to an ultrafine condensation particle counter with particle size magnifier has been set up to measure NPF. Experimental results show that pyruvic acid (PA), succinic acid (SUA), and malic acid (MA) can enhance sulfuric acid-dimethylamine nucleation in the order PA < SUA < MA with a greater enhancement observed at lower SA concentrations. Computational results indicate that the carboxylic and hydroxyl groups are related to the enhancement. This experiment-theory study shows the formation of multi-component aerosol particles and the role of the organic functional group, which may aid in understanding the role of organics in aerosol nucleation and growth in polluted areas, and help to choose organic molecules of specific structures for simulation.

Assessment of Isoprene as a Possible Biosignature Gas in Exoplanets with Anoxic Atmospheres

The search for possible biosignature gases in habitable exoplanet atmospheres is accelerating, although actual observations are likely years away. This work adds isoprene, C₅H₈, to the roster of biosignature gases. We found that isoprene geochemical formation is highly thermodynamically disfavored and has no known abiotic false positives. The isoprene production rate on Earth rivals that of methane (CH₄; ∼500 Tg/year). Unlike methane, on Earth isoprene is rapidly destroyed by oxygen-containing radicals. Although isoprene is predominantly produced by deciduous trees, isoprene production is ubiquitous to a diverse array of evolutionary distant organisms, from bacteria to plants and animals-few, if any, volatile secondary metabolites have a larger evolutionary reach. Although non-photochemical sinks of isoprene may exist, such as degradation of isoprene by life or other high deposition rates, destruction of isoprene in an anoxic atmosphere is mainly driven by photochemistry. Motivated by the concept that isoprene might accumulate in anoxic environments, we model the photochemistry and spectroscopic detection of isoprene in habitable temperature, rocky exoplanet anoxic atmospheres with a variety of atmosphere compositions under different host star ultraviolet fluxes. Limited by an assumed 10 ppm instrument noise floor, habitable atmosphere characterization when using James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is only achievable with a transit signal similar or larger than that for a super-Earth-sized exoplanet transiting an M dwarf star with an H₂-dominated atmosphere. Unfortunately, isoprene cannot accumulate to detectable abundance without entering a run-away phase, which occurs at a very high production rate, ∼100 times the Earth's production rate. In this run-away scenario, isoprene will accumulate to >100 ppm, and its spectral features are detectable with ∼20 JWST transits. One caveat is that some isoprene spectral features are hard to distinguish from those of methane and also from other hydrocarbons containing the isoprene substructure. Despite these challenges, isoprene is worth adding to the menu of potential biosignature gases.

Role of functional groups in reaction kinetics of dithiothreitol with secondary organic aerosols

The toxicity of organic aerosols has been largely ascribed to the generation of reactive oxygen species, which could subsequently induce oxidative stress in biological systems. The reaction of DTT with redox-active species in PM has been generally assumed to be pseudo-first order, with the oxidative potential of PM being represented by the DTT consumption per minute of reaction time per μg of PM. Although catalytic reactive species such as transition metals and quinones are long believed to be the main contributors of DTT responses, the role of non-catalytic DTT reactive species such as organic hydroperoxides (ROOH) and electron-deficient alkenes (e.g., conjugated carbonyls) in DTT consumption has been recently highlighted. Thus, understanding the reaction kinetics and mechanisms of DTT consumption by various PM components is required to interpret the oxidative potential measured by DTT assays more accurately. In this study, we measured the DTT consumptions over time and characterized the reaction products using model compounds and secondary organic aerosols (SOA) with varying initial concentrations. We observed that the DTT consumption rates linearly increased with both initial DTT and sample concentrations. The overall reaction order of DTT with non-catalytic reactive species and SOA in this study is second order. The reactions of DTT with different functional groups have significantly different rate constants. The reaction rate constant of isoprene SOA with DTT is mainly determined by the concentration of ROOH. For toluene SOA, both ROOH and electron-deficient alkenes may dominate its DTT reaction rates. These results provide some insights into the interpretation of DTT-based aerosol oxidative potential and highlight the need to study the toxicity mechanism of ROOH and electron-deficient alkenes in PM for future work.

Photolysis Controls Atmospheric Budgets of Biogenic Secondary Organic Aerosol

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) accounts for a large fraction of the tropospheric particulate matter. Although SOA production rates and mechanisms have been extensively investigated, loss pathways remain uncertain. Most large-scale chemistry and transport models account for mechanical deposition of SOA but not chemical losses such as photolysis. There is also a paucity of laboratory measurements of SOA photolysis, which limits how well photolytic losses can be modeled. Here, we show, through a combined experimental and modeling approach, that photolytic loss of SOA mass significantly alters SOA budget predictions. Using environmental chamber experiments at variable relative humidity between 0 and 60%, we find that SOA produced from several biogenic volatile organic compounds undergoes photolysis-induced mass loss at rates between 0 and 2.2 ± 0.4% of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) photolysis, equivalent to average atmospheric lifetimes as short as 10 h. We incorporate our photolysis rates into a regional chemical transport model to test the sensitivity of predicted SOA mass concentrations to photolytic losses. The addition of photolysis causes a ∼50% reduction in biogenic SOA loadings over the Amazon, indicating that photolysis exerts a substantial control over the atmospheric SOA lifetime, with a likely dependence upon the SOA molecular composition and thus production mechanisms.

Radical chemistry in oxidation flow reactors for atmospheric chemistry research

We summarize the studies on the chemistry in oxidation flow reactor and discuss its atmospheric relevance.

Airborne measurements of isoprene and monoterpene emissions from southeastern U.S. forests

Isoprene and monoterpene emission rates are essential inputs for atmospheric chemistry models that simulate atmospheric oxidant and particle distributions. Process studies of the biochemical and physiological mechanisms controlling these emissions are advancing our understanding and the accuracy of model predictions but efforts to quantify regional emissions have been limited by a lack of constraints on regional distributions of ecosystem emission capacities. We used an airborne wavelet-based eddy covariance measurement technique to characterize isoprene and monoterpene fluxes with high spatial resolution during the 2013 SAS (Southeast Atmosphere Study) in the southeastern United States. The fluxes measured by direct eddy covariance were comparable to emissions independently estimated using an indirect inverse modeling approach. Isoprene emission factors based on the aircraft wavelet flux estimates for high isoprene chemotypes (e.g., oaks) were similar to the MEGAN2.1 biogenic emission model estimates for landscapes dominated by oaks. Aircraft flux measurement estimates for landscapes with fewer isoprene emitting trees (e.g., pine plantations), were about a factor of two lower than MEGAN2.1 model estimates. The tendency for high isoprene emitters in these landscapes to occur in the shaded understory, where light dependent isoprene emissions are diminished, may explain the lower than expected emissions. This result demonstrates the importance of accurately representing the vertical profile of isoprene emitting biomass in biogenic emission models. Airborne measurement-based emission factors for high monoterpene chemotypes agreed with MEGAN2.1 in landscapes dominated by pine (high monoterpene chemotype) trees but were more than a factor of three higher than model estimates for landscapes dominated by oak (relatively low monoterpene emitting) trees. This results suggests that unaccounted processes, such as floral emissions or light dependent monoterpene emissions, or vegetation other than high monoterpene emitting trees may be an important source of monoterpene emissions in those landscapes and should be identified and included in biogenic emission models.

Reassessing the atmospheric oxidation mechanism of toluene

Photochemical oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons leads to tropospheric ozone and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation, with profound implications for air quality, human health, and climate. Toluene is the most abundant aromatic compound under urban environments, but its detailed chemical oxidation mechanism remains uncertain. From combined laboratory experiments and quantum chemical calculations, we show a toluene oxidation mechanism that is different from the one adopted in current atmospheric models. Our experimental work indicates a larger-than-expected branching ratio for cresols, but a negligible formation of ring-opening products (e.g., methylglyoxal). Quantum chemical calculations also demonstrate that cresols are much more stable than their corresponding peroxy radicals, and, for the most favorable OH (ortho) addition, the pathway of H extraction by O₂ to form the cresol proceeds with a smaller barrier than O₂ addition to form the peroxy radical. Our results reveal that phenolic (rather than peroxy radical) formation represents the dominant pathway for toluene oxidation, highlighting the necessity to reassess its role in ozone and SOA formation in the atmosphere.

Persistent sulfate formation from London Fog to Chinese haze

Sulfate aerosols exert profound impacts on human and ecosystem health, weather, and climate, but their formation mechanism remains uncertain. Atmospheric models consistently underpredict sulfate levels under diverse environmental conditions. From atmospheric measurements in two Chinese megacities and complementary laboratory experiments, we show that the aqueous oxidation of SO₂ by NO₂ is key to efficient sulfate formation but is only feasible under two atmospheric conditions: on fine aerosols with high relative humidity and NH₃ neutralization or under cloud conditions. Under polluted environments, this SO₂ oxidation process leads to large sulfate production rates and promotes formation of nitrate and organic matter on aqueous particles, exacerbating severe haze development. Effective haze mitigation is achievable by intervening in the sulfate formation process with enforced NH₃ and NO₂ control measures. In addition to explaining the polluted episodes currently occurring in China and during the 1952 London Fog, this sulfate production mechanism is widespread, and our results suggest a way to tackle this growing problem in China and much of the developing world.

Hygroscopic Characteristics of Alkylaminium Carboxylate Aerosols

The hygroscopic growth factor (HGF) and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity for a series of alkylaminium carboxylate aerosols have been measured using a hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer coupled to a condensation particle counter and a CCN counter. The particles, consisting of the mixtures of mono- (acetic, propanoic, p-toluic, and cis-pinonic acid) and dicarboxylic (oxalic, succinic, malic, adipic, and azelaic acid) acid with alkylamine (mono-, di-, and trimethylamines), represent those commonly found under diverse environmental conditions. The hygroscopicity parameter (κ) of the alkylaminium carboxylate aerosols was derived from the HGF and CCN results and theoretically calculated. The HGF at 90% RH is in the range of 1.3 to 1.8 for alkylaminium monocarboxylates and 1.1 to 2.2 for alkylaminium dicarboxylates, dependent on the molecular functionality (i.e., the carboxylic or OH functional group in organic acids and methyl substitution in alkylamines). The κ value for all alkylaminium carboxylates is in the range of 0.06-1.37 derived from the HGF measurements at 90% RH, 0.05-0.49 derived from the CCN measurements, and 0.22-0.66 theoretically calculated. The measured hygroscopicity of the alkylaminium carboxylates increases with decreasing acid to base ratio. The deliquescence point is apparent for several of the alkylaminium dicarboxylates but not for the alkylaminium monocarboxylates. Our results reveal that alkylaminium carboxylate aerosols exhibit distinct hygroscopic and deliquescent characteristics that are dependent on their molecular functionality, hence regulating their impacts on human health, air quality, and direct and indirect radiative forcing on climate.

Asian pollution climatically modulates mid-latitude cyclones following hierarchical modelling and observational analysis

Increasing levels of anthropogenic aerosols in Asia have raised considerable concern regarding its potential impact on the global atmosphere, but the magnitude of the associated climate forcing remains to be quantified. Here, using a novel hierarchical modelling approach and observational analysis, we demonstrate modulated mid-latitude cyclones by Asian pollution over the past three decades. Regional and seasonal simulations using a cloud-resolving model show that Asian pollution invigorates winter cyclones over the northwest Pacific, increasing precipitation by 7% and net cloud radiative forcing by 1.0 W m(-2) at the top of the atmosphere and by 1.7 W m(-2) at the Earth's surface. A global climate model incorporating the diabatic heating anomalies from Asian pollution produces a 9% enhanced transient eddy meridional heat flux and reconciles a decadal variation of mid-latitude cyclones derived from the Reanalysis data. Our results unambiguously reveal a large impact of the Asian pollutant outflows on the global general circulation and climate.

High sensitivity of diesel soot morphological and optical properties to combustion temperature in a shock tube

Carbonaceous particles produced from combustion of fossil fuels have strong impacts on air quality and climate, yet quantitative relationships between particle characteristics and combustion conditions remain inadequately understood. We have used a shock tube to study the formation and properties of diesel combustion soot, including particle size distributions, effective density, elemental carbon (EC) mass fraction, mass-mobility scaling exponent, hygroscopicity, and light absorption and scattering. These properties are found to be strongly dependent on the combustion temperature and fuel equivalence ratio. Whereas combustion at higher temperatures (∼2000 K) yields fractal particles of a larger size and high EC content (90 wt %), at lower temperatures (∼1400 K) smaller particles of a higher organic content (up to 65 wt %) are produced. Single scattering albedo of soot particles depends largely on their organic content, increasing drastically from 0.3 to 0.8 when the particle EC mass fraction decreases from 0.9 to 0.3. The mass absorption cross-section of diesel soot increases with combustion temperature, being the highest for particles with a higher EC content. Our results reveal that combustion conditions, especially the temperature, may have significant impacts on the direct and indirect climate forcing of atmospheric soot aerosols.

Role of OH-initiated oxidation of isoprene in aging of combustion soot

We have investigated the contribution of OH-initiated oxidation of isoprene to the atmospheric aging of combustion soot. The experiments were conducted in a fluoropolymer chamber on size-classified soot aerosols in the presence of isoprene, photolytically generated OH, and nitrogen oxides. The evolution in the mixing state of soot was monitored from simultaneous measurements of the particle size and mass, which were used to calculate the particle effective density, dynamic shape factor, mass fractal dimension, and coating thickness. When soot particles age, the increase in mass is accompanied by a decrease in particle mobility diameter and an increase in effective density. Coating material not only fills in void spaces, but also causes partial restructuring of fractal soot aggregates. For thinly coated aggregates, the single scattering albedo increases weakly because of the decreased light absorption and practically unchanged scattering. Upon humidification, coated particles absorb water, leading to an additional compaction. Aging transforms initially hydrophobic soot particles into efficient cloud condensation nuclei at a rate that increases in the presence of nitrogen oxides. Our results suggest that ubiquitous biogenic isoprene plays an important role in aging of anthropogenic soot, shortening its atmospheric lifetime and considerably altering its impacts on air quality and climate.

Soot aging from OH-initiated oxidation of toluene

We have conducted laboratory experiments to investigate the impacts of secondary organic aerosol formation on soot properties from OH-initiated oxidation of toluene. Monodisperse soot particles are exposed to the oxidation products of the OH-toluene reaction in an environmental chamber, and variations in particle size, mass, organic mass faction, morphology, effective density, hygroscopicity, and optical properties are simultaneously determined by an integrated aerosol analytical system. The thickness of the organic coating, correlated to reaction time and initial reactant concentrations, is shown to largely govern the particle properties. With the development of organic coating, the soot core is changed from a highly fractal to compact form, evident from the measured effective density and dynamic shape factor. The organic coating increases the particle hygroscopicity, and further exposure of coated soot to elevated relative humidity results in a more spherical particle. The single scattering albedo and scattering and absorption cross sections are also enhanced with the organic coating. Our results suggest that the oxidation products of anthropogenic pollutants alter the composition and properties of soot particles and lead to increased particle density, hygroscopicity, and optical properties, considerably enhancing their impacts on air quality, climate forcing, and human health.

Physiochemical properties of alkylaminium sulfates: hygroscopicity, thermostability, and density

Although heterogeneous interaction of amines has been recently shown to play an important role in the formation and growth of atmospheric aerosols, little information is available on the physicochemical properties of aminium sulfates. In this study, the hygroscopicity, thermostability, and density of alkylaminium sulfates (AASs) have been measured by an integrated aerosol analytical system including a tandem differential mobility analyzer and an aerosol particle mass analyzer. AAS aerosols exhibit monotonic size growth at increasing RH without a well-defined deliquescence point. Mixing of ammonium sulfate (AS) with AASs lowers the deliquescence point corresponding to AS. Particles with AASs show comparable or higher thermostability than that of AS. The density of AASs is determined to be 1.2-1.5 g cm(-3), and an empirical model is developed to predict the density of AASs on the basis of the mole ratio of alkyl carbons to total sulfate. Our results reveal that the heterogeneous uptake of amines on sulfate particles may considerably alter the aerosol properties. In particular, the displacement reaction of alkylamines with ammonium sulfate aerosols leads to a transition from the crystalline to an amorphorous phase and an improved water uptake, considerably enhancing their direct and indirect climate forcing.

Heterogeneous reactions of alkylamines with ammonium sulfate and ammonium bisulfate

The heterogeneous reactions between alkylamines and ammonium salts (ammonium sulfate and ammonium bisulfate) have been studied using a low-pressure fast flow reactor coupled to an ion drift-chemical ionization mass spectrometer (ID-CIMS) at 293 ± 2 K. The uptake of three alkylamines, i.e., monomethylamine, dimethylamine, and trimethylamine, on ammonium sulfate shows a displacement reaction of ammonium by aminium, evidenced by the release of ammonia monitored using protonated acetone dimer as the reagent ion. For the three alkylamines, the initial uptake coefficients (γ(0)) range from 2.6 × 10(-2) to 3.4 × 10(-2) and the steady-state uptake coefficients (γ(ss)) range from 6.0 × 10(-3) to 2.3 × 10(-4) and decrease as the number of methyl groups on the alkylamine increases. A different reaction mechanism is observed for the uptake of the three alkylamines on ammonium bisulfate, which is featured by an acid-base reaction (neutralization) with irreversible alkylamine loss and no ammonia generation and occurs at a rate limited by diffusion of gaseous alkylamines to the ammonium bisulfate surface. Our results reveal that the reactions between alkylamines and ammonium salts contribute to particle growth and alter the composition of ammonium sulfate and bisulfate aerosols in the atmosphere.

Heterogeneous reaction of NO(2) on fresh and coated soot surfaces

The heterogeneous reaction of nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) on fresh and coated soot surfaces has been investigated to assess its role in night-time formation of nitrous acid (HONO) in the atmosphere. Soot surfaces were prepared by incomplete combustion of propane and kerosene fuels under lean and rich flame conditions and then processed by heating to evaporate semivolatile species or by coating with pyrene, sulfuric acid, or glutaric acid. Uptake kinetics and HONO yield measurements were performed in a low-pressure fast-flow reactor coupled to a chemical ionization mass spectrometer (CIMS), using atmospheric-level NO(2) concentrations. The uptake coefficient and the HONO yield upon interaction of NO(2) with nascent soot depend on the type of fuel and combustion regime and are the highest for samples prepared using fuel rich flame. Heating the nascent soot samples before exposure to NO(2) removes the organic material from the soot backbone, leading to a significant increase in NO(2) uptake coefficient and HONO yield. Continuous exposure to NO(2) reduces the reactivity of soot because of irreversible deactivation of the surface sites. Our results support the oxidation-reduction mechanism involving adsorptive and reactive centers on soot surface where NO(2) is converted to HONO and other products. Coating of the soot surface by different materials to simulate atmospheric aging has a strong impact on its reactivity toward NO(2) and the resulting HONO production. Coating of pyrene has little effect on either reaction rate or HONO yield. Sulfuric acid coating does not alter the uptake coefficient, but significantly reduces the amount of HONO formed. Coating of glutaric acid significantly increases NO(2) uptake coefficient and HONO yield. The results of our study indicate that the reactivity and HONO generating capacity of internally mixed soot aerosol will depend on the chemical composition of the coating material and hence will vary considerably in different polluted environments.

Thermodynamics of the hydroxyl radical addition to isoprene

Oxidation of isoprene by the hydroxyl radical leads to tropospheric ozone formation. Consequently, a more complete understanding of this reaction could lead to better models of regional air quality, a better understanding of aerosol formation, and a better understanding of reaction kinetics and dynamics. The most common first step in the oxidation of isoprene is the formation of an adduct, with the hydroxyl radical adding to one of four unsaturated carbon atoms in isoprene. In this paper, we discuss how the initial conformations of isoprene, s-trans and s-gauche, influences the pathways to adduct formation. We explore the formation of pre-reactive complexes at low and high temperatures, which are often invoked to explain the negative temperature dependence of this reaction's kinetics. We show that at higher temperatures the free energy surface indicates that a pre-reactive complex is unlikely, while at low temperatures the complex exists on two reaction pathways. The theoretical results show that at low temperatures all eight pathways possess negative reaction barriers, and reaction energies that range from -36.7 to -23.0 kcal x mol(-1). At temperatures in the lower atmosphere, all eight pathways possess positive reaction barriers that range from 3.8 to 6.0 kcal x mol(-1) and reaction energies that range from -28.8 to -14.4 kcal x mol(-1).

A Two Transition State Model for Radical−Molecule Reactions: Applications to Isomeric Branching in the OH−Isoprene Reaction

A two transition state model is applied to the prediction of the isomeric branching in the addition of hydroxyl radical to isoprene. The outer transition state is treated with phase space theory fitted to long-range transition state theory calculations on an electrostatic potential energy surface. High-level quantum chemical estimates are applied to the treatment of the inner transition state. A one-dimensional master equation based on an analytic reduction from two-dimensions for a particular statistical assumption about the rotational part of the energy transfer kernel is employed in the calculation of the pressure dependence of the addition process. We find that an accurate treatment of the two separate transition state regions, at the energy and angular momentum resolved level, is essential to the prediction of the temperature dependence of the addition rate. The transition from a dominant outer transition state to a dominant inner transition state is shown to occur at about 275 K, with significant effects from both transition states over the 30-500 K temperature range. Modest adjustments in the ab initio predicted inner saddle point energies yield predictions that are in quantitative agreement with the available high-pressure limit experimental observations and qualitative agreement with those in the falloff regime. The theoretically predicted capture rate is reproduced to within 10% by the expression [1.71 x 10(-10)(T/298)(-2.58) exp(-608.6/RT) + 5.47 x 10(-11)(T/298)-1.78 exp(-97.3/RT); with R = 1.987 and T in K] cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1) over the 30-500 K range. A 300 K branching ratio of 0.67:0.02:0.02:0.29 was determined for formation of the four possible OH-isoprene adduct isomers 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively, and was found to be relatively insensitive to temperature. An Arrhenius activation energy of -0.77 kcal/mol was determined for the high-pressure addition rate constants around 300 K.

Kinetics in Cold Laval Nozzle Expansions: From Atmospheric Chemistry to Oxidation of Biomolecules in the Gas Phase

New developments and recent applications of pulsed and miniaturised Laval nozzle technology allowing many gas-phase molecular processes to be studied at very low temperatures are highlighted. In the present Minireview we focus on molecular energy transfer and reactions of molecular radicals (e.g. OH) with neutral molecules. We show that with the combination of pulsed laser photolysis and sensitive laser-induced fluorescence detection a large number of fast reactions of radicals with more or less complex neutral molecules can be measured in Laval nozzle expansions nowadays. It is also demonstrated that collisional energy transfer of neutral molecules can be measured via kinetically controlled selective fluorescence (KCSF) excitation down to 58 Kelvin. Finally, we show that even the primary steps in the oxidation of biomolecules or biomolecular building blocks initiated by OH radicals can be followed at low temperatures. The temperature dependence of the measured rate constants is the key for an understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms and the Laval nozzle expansion provides a unique environment for these measurements. The experimental finding that many reactions between radicals and neutral species can be rapid at low temperatures are discussed in terms of pre-reactive complexes formed in the overall complex forming bimolecular reactions.

Atmospheric new particle formation enhanced by organic acids

Atmospheric aerosols often contain a substantial fraction of organic matter, but the role of organic compounds in new nanometer-sized particle formation is highly uncertain. Laboratory experiments show that nucleation of sulfuric acid is considerably enhanced in the presence of aromatic acids. Theoretical calculations identify the formation of an unusually stable aromatic acid-sulfuric acid complex, which likely leads to a reduced nucleation barrier. The results imply that the interaction between organic and sulfuric acids promotes efficient formation of organic and sulfate aerosols in the polluted atmosphere because of emissions from burning of fossil fuels, which strongly affect human health and global climate.

Industrial emissions cause extreme urban ozone diurnal variability

Simulations with a regional chemical transport model show that anthropogenic emissions of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides (NO(x) = NO + NO(2)) lead to a dramatic diurnal variation of surface ozone (O(3)) in Houston, Texas. During the daytime, photochemical oxidation of volatile organic compounds catalyzed by NO(x) results in episodes of elevated ambient O(3) levels significantly exceeding the National Ambient Air Quality Standard. The O(3) production rate in Houston is significantly higher than those found in other cities over the United States. At night, a surface NO(x) maximum occurs because of continuous NO emission from industrial sources, and, consequently, an extensive urban-scale "hole" of surface ozone (<10 parts per billion by volume in the entire Houston area) is formed as a result of O(3) removal by NO. The results suggest that consideration of regulatory control of O(3) precursor emissions from the industrial sources is essential to formulate ozone abatement strategies in this region.

Quantification of Hydroxycarbonyls from OH−Isoprene Reactions

Hydroxycarbonyls arising from OH-initiated reactions of isoprene have been quantified by the technique of a flow reactor coupled to proton-transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) detection. The yields of C5- and C4-hydroxycarbonyls are (19.3 +/- 6.1)% and (3.3 +/- 1.6)%, respectively, measured at a flow tube pressure of about 100 Torr and at a temperature of 298 +/- 2 K. A yield of (8.4 +/- 2.4)% is obtained for the unsaturated carbonyl C5H8O, confirming that internal OH addition represents the minor channel in the initial OH-isoprene reaction. The results show that those carbonyl compounds account for the most previously unquantified carbon, enabling the isoprene carbon closure. The study also reveals novel aspects of the delta-hydroxyalkoxy radical degradation mechanism, which is essential for modeling tropospheric O3 formation. In addition, this work demonstrates the application of PTR-MS for quantification of products of hydrocarbon reactions, which should have profound impacts on elucidation of the chemistry of atmospheric anthropogenic and biogenic hydrocarbons.

Hydroxy peroxy nitrites and nitrates from OH initiated reactions of isoprene

The reaction of hydroxy peroxy radicals (RO(2)) with NO represents one of the most crucial tropospheric processes, leading to terrestrial ozone formation or NO(x)() removal and chain termination. We investigate the formation of hydroxy peroxy nitrites (ROONO) and nitrates (RONO(2)) from the OH-isoprene reactions using DFT and ab initio theories and variational RRKM/master equation (vRRKM/ME) formalism. The binding energies of ROONO from NO addition to RO(2) are determined to be in the range of 20-22 kcal mol(-)(1), and the bond dissociation energies of ROONO to form an alkoxy radical (RO) and NO(2) range from 6 to 9 kcal mol(-)(1). Isomerization of ROONO to RONO(2) is exothermic by 22-28 kcal mol(-)(1). The entrance and exit channels of the RO(2)-NO reaction are found to be barrierless, and the rate constants to form ROONO are calculated to be 3 x 10(-)(12) to 2 x 10(-)(11) cm(3) molecule(-)(1) s(-)(1) using the canonical variational transition state theory. The vRRKM/ME analysis reveals negligible stabilization of excited ROONO and provides an assessment of ROONO isomerization to RONO(2).