Kinetics, product distribution and atmospheric implications of the gas-phase oxidation of allyl sulfides by OH radicals

Relative rate coefficients of the OH radical -initiated oxidation of allyl methyl sulfide (AMS, H₂CCHCH₂SCH₃) and allyl ethyl sulfide (AES, H₂CCHCH₂SCH₂CH₃) have been measured at atmospheric pressure of synthetic air and 298 K: k_AMS= (4.98 ± 1.42) and k_AES= (6.88 ± 1.49) × 10^-11 cm³ molecule^-1 s^-1 by means of in situ FTIR spectroscopy. In addition, the molar yields of the main reaction products of AMS with OH radicals formed in the absence and presence of nitric oxides (NO_X) were determined to be the following: sulfur dioxide (95 ± 12) % and (51 ± 12) % for acrolein (50 ± 9) % and (41 ± 9) %. In the reaction of AES with OH radicals, the following molar yields were obtained: for sulfur dioxide (88 ± 13) % and (56 ± 12) % for acrolein (36 ± 9) % and (41 ± 9) %. The present results suggest that the abstraction at C3 plays an important role in the oxidation mechanism as the addition to the double bond. This work represents the first study of the OH radical interaction with AMS and AES carried out under atmospheric conditions. The atmospheric implications were discussed in terms of the atmospheric residence times of the sulfur-containing compounds studied and the products formed in the presence and absence of NOx. SO₂ formation seems to be the main fate of the gas-phase allyl sulfides oxidation with significant acidifying potentials and short-chain aldehydes production like formaldehyde and acetaldehyde.

Unimolecular and water reactions of oxygenated and unsaturated Criegee intermediates under atmospheric conditions

Ozonolysis of unsaturated hydrocarbons (VOCs) is one of the main oxidation processes in the atmosphere. The stabilized Criegee intermediates (SCI) formed are highly reactive oxygenated species that potentially influence the...

Atmospheric insight into the reaction mechanism and kinetics of isopropenyl methyl ether (i-PME) initiated by OH radicals and subsequent oxidation of product radicals

Studies on primary gas-phase reactions of emitted saturated and unsaturated ethers with oxidants and subsequent secondary reactions of product radicals with O₂ in the presence of NO are important in their atmospheric chemical processes. To accomplish these findings, we have examined the chemistry of OH-initiated oxidation of isopropenyl methyl ether (i-PME) CH₃C(CH₂)OCH₃ by electronic structure ca using density functional theory. Our energetic calculations show that OH additions to carbon-carbon double bonds of i-PME are more favorable reaction pathways than H-abstraction reactions from the various CH sites of the titled molecule. The rate constant values which are obtained from the transition state theory also signify that OH-addition reactions have faster reaction rates than H-abstraction reactions. Our calculated total rate constant of the reaction is found 9.90 × 10^-11 cm³ molecule^-1 s^-1. The percentage branching ratio calculations imply that OH-addition reactions have 98.09% contribution in the total rate constant. The atmospheric lifetime of i-PME is found to be 2.8 h. Further, we have identified 2-hydroxy-2-methoxypropanol, methyl acetate, methy-1,2-hydroxyacetate and 1-hydroxypropane-2-one, 1,2-dihydroxypropan-2-yl format, 2-hydroxyacetic acid, acetic acid, and formaldehyde from the secondary oxidation of product radicals.

Molecular-Weight Growth in Ozone-Initiated Low-Temperature Oxidation of Methyl Crotonate

We report experiments of ozone-initiated low-temperature oxidation of methyl crotonate (MC, CH₃-CH═CH-C(O)OCH₃) from 420 to 660 K in a near-atmospheric-pressure jet-stirred reactor using photoionization molecular-beam mass spectrometry as a sampling technique. In this temperature regime, no typical low-temperature combustion (LTC) reactions have been observed for MC when oxygen (O₂) is used as the oxidizer. Upon ozone addition, significant oxidation of methyl crotonate is found. On the basis of experimentally observed energy-dependent mass peaks in combination with temperature-dependent mole fraction profiles and photoionization efficiency curves, we provide new insights into the methyl crotonate ozonolysis reaction network. The observed MC + O₃ products, C₅H₈O₅, are found to be related to the keto-hydroperoxides resulting from the isomerization of the primary ozonide. Evidence is also provided that molecular growth mainly results from cycloaddition reactions of the Criegee intermediate into aldehydes and alkenes as well as addition reactions of the Criegee intermediates to the double bond of methyl crotonate and sequential decomposition into ketones. Furthermore, species that contribute in large amounts to the low-temperature oxidation of methyl crotonate, like H₂O₂, CH₃OOH, CH₃OH, and HC(O)OH, are identified, and their mole fractions are reported. Additionally, preliminary modeling is performed which qualitatively captures the observed NTC behavior and reveals future research opportunities.

OH-Initiated Reactions of para-Coumaryl Alcohol Relevant to the Lignin Pyrolysis. Part III. Kinetics of H-Abstraction by H, OH, and CH3 Radicals

Lignin is the most complex component of biomass, and development of a detailed chemical kinetic model for biomass pyrolysis mainly relies on the understanding of the lignin decomposition kinetics. para-Coumaryl alcohol (p-CMA, HOPh-CH═CH-CH₂OH), the focus of our analysis, is the simplest of the lignin monomers (monolignols) containing a typical side-chain double bond and both alkyl- and phenolic-type OH-groups. In parts I and II of our work (Asatryan, R. J. Phys. Chem. A 2019, 123, 2570-2585; Hudzik, J. M. J. Phys. Chem. A 2020, current issue), we created a detailed potential energy surface (PES) and performed a kinetic analysis of chemically activated, unimolecular, and bimolecular reactions pathways for p-CMA + OH. Reaction pathways analyzed include dissociation, intramolecular abstraction, group transfer, and elimination processes. The α- and β-carbon addition reactions generate 1,3- (RA1) and 1,2-diol (RB1) adduct radicals, respectively. Well depths are approximately 29 and 41 kcal/mol below the p-CMA + OH entrance level. Kinetic analysis aides in determining the major pathways for our conventional and fractional pyrolysis experiments. The current paper focuses on the H-abstraction reactions via H, OH, and CH₃ light ("pool") radicals from p-CMA. The thermochemical properties of all stable, radical, and transition-state species were determined using the ωB97XD density functional theory (DFT) and higher-level CBS-QB3 composite methods. Barrier heights from the prereaction complexes, for OH-radical abstractions, to the transition states for the propanoid side chain are compared to the model H-abstraction reactions of allyl alcohol (AA) with OH and p-CMA with H and CH₃ radicals. The lowest-energy, most stable, p-CMA radical formed is at the C9 allylic position (p-CMA-C9j) with exothermicity of 26.63, 41.32, and 27.34 kcal/mol for H, OH, and CH₃, respectively. For OH-radical abstraction at this position, our findings are consistent with corresponding data on AA + OH at 37.44 kcal/mol and similar to that of RB1. A similar stable radical with an exothermicity of 34.95 kcal/mol occurs for the phenol hydroxyl group, generating the p-CMA-O4j radical. H-abstraction pathways are considered in relation to other major pathways previously considered for p-CMA + OH reactions including H-atom shifts, dehydration, and β-scission reactions. Derived rate coefficients for substituted phenols can be utilized in detailed kinetic models for lignin/biomass pyrolysis.

Human odour thresholds are tuned to atmospheric chemical lifetimes

In this study, the odour thresholds (OT) and atmospheric lifetimes (AL) were compared for a suite of volatile organic compounds. It was found that odour threshold, as determined by the triangle bag method, correlated surprisingly well with atmospheric lifetime for a given chemical family. Molecules with short atmospheric lifetimes with respect to the primary atmospheric oxidant OH tend to be more sensitively detected by the human nose. Overall the correlation of odour threshold with atmospheric lifetime was better than with mass and vapour pressure. Several outliers from the correlations for particular chemical families were examined in detail. For example, diacetyl was an outlier in the ketone dataset that fitted the trend when its more important photolysis lifetime was included; and similarly, the relatively low odour threshold of carbonyl sulfide (OCS) was interpreted in terms of uptake by vegetation. The OT/AL relationship suggests that OH rate constants can be used as a first-order estimate for odour thresholds (and vice versa). We speculate that the nose's high sensitivity to chemicals that are reactive in the air is likely an evolved rather than a learned condition. This is based on the lack of dependence on ozone in the aliphatics, that the anthropogenically emitted aromatic compounds had the worst correlation, and that OCS had a much lower than predicted OT. Finally, we use the OT/AL relationships derived to predict odour thresholds and rate constants that have not yet been determined in order to provide a test to this hypothesis. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Olfactory communication in humans'.

Solar light induced transformation mechanism of allyl alcohol to monocarbonyl and dicarbonyl compounds on different TiO2: A combined experimental and theoretical investigation

Enols are an important group of photochemical precursors of atmospheric carbonyl compounds. However, the transformation mechanism is not fully understood. In this study, the photo-induced transformation of a typical enol, allyl alcohol, to carbonyl compounds on TiO₂ (P25) and aluminum reduced TiO₂ (P25, rutile and anatase TiO₂) were investigated. Intermediate results confirmed that a total of seven carbonyl compounds, including four monocarbonyl compounds (acetone, glycolaldehyde, 1,3-dihydroxyacetone and acrolein) and three dicarbonyl compounds (glyoxal, methylglyoxal and dimethylglyoxal), were formed on studied TiO₂. This is the first time to report the transformation of allyl alcohol to dicarbonyl compounds on TiO₂. The same byproducts formation indicated negligible effects of reduction treatment and crystal phase to the composition of carbonyl intermediates. However, the relative content ratio of dicarbonyl compounds to monocarbonyl ones on reduced P25 is ca. 4.1 times higher than that on P25, suggesting reduction treatment significantly accelerated the transformation of allyl alcohol or monocarbonyl compounds to dicarbonyl ones. Furthermore, both rutile and anatase crystal phases were found beneficial for the dicarbonyl compounds generation within enough reaction time, especially for anatase. The enhanced ^•OH was responsible for all accelerations. Furthermore, the intermediate results together with quantum chemical calculations confirmed that ^•OH addition and O₂ oxidation preferred converting allyl alcohol to dicarbonyl compounds rather than monocarbonyl ones. The present work could provide a deep insight into the transformation of allyl alcohol to carbonyl compounds, and efficiently replenish atmospheric transformation fate of enols.

O2-·[Polar VOC] Complexes: H-Bonding versus Charge-Dipole Interactions, and the Noninnocence of Formaldehyde

Anion photoelectron imaging was used to measure the photodetachment spectra of molecular complexes formed between O₂^- and a range of atmospherically relevant polar molecules, including species with a carbonyl group (acetone, formaldehyde) and alcohols (ethanol, propenol, butenol). Experimental spectra are analyzed using a combination of Franck-Condon simulations and electronic structure calculations. Strong charge-dipole interactions and H-bonding stabilize the complex anions relative to the neutrals, resulting in a ca. 1 eV increase in electron binding energy relative to bare O₂^-, an effect more pronounced in complexes with H-bonding. In addition, broken degeneracy of the O₂-local π_g orbitals in the complexes results in the stabilization of the low-lying excited O₂ (a ¹Δ_g)·[polar VOC] state relative to the ground O₂ (X ³Σ_g^-)·[polar VOC] state when compared to bare O₂. The spectra of the O₂^-·[polar VOC] complexes exhibit less pronounced laser photoelectron angular distribution (PADs). The spectrum of O₂^-·formaldehyde is unique in terms of both spectral profile and PAD. On the basis of these experimental results in addition to computational results, the complex anion cannot be described as a distinct O₂^- anion partnered with an innocent solvent molecule; the molecules are more strongly coupled through charge delocalization. Overall, the results underscore how the symmetry of the O₂ π_g orbitals is broken by different polar partners, which may have implications for atmospheric photochemistry and models of solar radiation absorption that include collision-induced absorption.

Gas Phase Oxidation of Campholenic Aldehyde and Solution Phase Reactivity of its Epoxide Derivative

The rate constant for the OH reaction with campholenic aldehyde (CA) was measured using the flow tube-chemical ionization mass spectrometry method with a relative rate kinetics technique and was found to be (6.54 ± 0.52) × 10^-11 cm³ molecule^-1 s^-1 at 100 Torr pressure and 298 K. A mechanism for the formation of the observed products was developed for both NO-free and NO-present conditions. On the basis of measurements of the pressure dependent yields of the products, between 5 and 20% of the CA oxidation at atmospheric pressure is predicted to lead to campholenic aldehyde epoxide (CAE). The aqueous solution reaction rate constants for CAE were determined via NMR spectroscopy and were found to be (2.241 ± 0.036) × 10^-5 s^-1 for neutral conditions and 0.0989 ± 0.0053 M^-1 s^-1 for acid-catalyzed conditions at 298 K. The products of the CAE aqueous solution reaction were identified as an isomer of CAE and the aldehyde group hydrated form of this isomer. Unlike the isoprene-derived epoxide, IEPOX, a nucleophilic addition mechanism was not observed. On the basis of the rate constants determined for CA and CAE, it is likely that these species are reactive on atmospherically relevant time scales in the gas and aerosol phases, respectively. The results of the present study largely support a previous supposition that α-pinene-derived secondary organic aerosol may be influenced by the multiphase processing of various intermediate species, including those with epoxide functionality.

Atmospheric reactivity of HCCCH2OH (2-propyn-1-ol) toward OH radicals: experimental determination and theoretical comparison with its alkyne analogue

The rate coefficient for the reaction of propargyl alcohol (2-propyn-1-ol,2P1OL) with OH radicals has been determined using gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector (GC/FID) at 298 K and atmospheric pressure.