A series of smog chamber experiments have been conducted in which five cyclic monoterpenes were oxidized by ozone. The evolved secondary aerosol was analyzed by GC-MS and HPLC-MS for nonvolatile polar oxidation products with emphasis on the identification of carboxylic acids. Three classes of compounds were determined at concentration levels corresponding to low percentage molar yields:  i.e. dicarboxylic acids, oxocarboxylic acids, and hydroxyketocarboxylic acids. Carboxylic acids are highly polar and have lower vapor pressures than their corresponding aldehydes and may thus play an important role in secondary organic aerosol formation processes. The most abundant carboxylic acids were the following:  cis-pinic acid AB1 (cis-3-carboxy-2,2-dimethylcyclobutylethanoic acid) from α- and β-pinene; cis-pinonic acid A3 (cis-3-acetyl-2,2-dimethylcyclobutylethanoic acid) and cis-10-hydroxypinonic acid AB6 (cis-2,2-dimethyl-3-hydroxyacetylcyclobutylethanoic acid) from α-pinene and β-pinene; cis-3-caric acid C1 (cis-2,2-dimethyl-1,3-cyclopropyldiethanoic acid), cis-3-caronic acid C3 (2,2-dimethyl-3-(2-oxopropyl)cyclopropanylethanoic acid), and cis-10-hydroxy-3-caronic acid C6 (cis-2,2-dimethyl-3-(hydroxy-2-oxopropyl)cyclopropanylethanoic acid) from 3-carene; cis-sabinic acid S1 (cis-2-carboxy-1-isopropylcyclopropylethanoic acid) from sabinene; limonic acid L1 (3-isopropenylhexanedioic acid), limononic acid L3 (3-isopropenyl-6-oxo-heptanoic acid), 7-hydroxylimononic acid L6 (3-isopropenyl-7-hydroxy-6-oxoheptanoic acid), and 7-hydroxylimononic acid L6‘ (7-hydroxy-3-isopropenyl-6-oxoheptanoic acid) from limonene.

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Abstract. The time resolved chemical composition of aerosol particles, formed by the oxidation of alpha-pinene has been investigated by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC-MS) using negative and positive ionisation methods (ESI(-) and APCI(+)). The experiments were performed at the EUPHORE facility in Valencia (Spain) under various experimental conditions, including dark ozone reactions, photosmog experiments with low NOx mixing ratios and reaction with OH radicals in the absence of NOx (H2O2-photolysis). Particles were sampled on PTFE f ilters at different stages of the reaction and extracted with methanol. The predominant products from alpha-pinene in the particulate phase are cis-pinic acid, cis-pinonic acid and hydroxy-pinonic acid isomers. Another major compound with molecular weight 172 was detected, possibly a hydroxy-carboxylic acid. These major compounds account for 50% to 80% of the identified aerosol products, depending on the time of sampling and type of experiment. In addition, more than 20 different products have been detected and structures have been tentatively assigned based on their molecular weight and responses to the different ionisation modes. The different experiments performed showed that the aerosol formation is mainly caused by the ozonolysis reaction. The highest aerosol yields were observed in the dark ozone experiments, for which also the highest ratios of mass of identified products to the formed aerosol mass were found (30% to 50%, assuming a density of 1 g cm-3).

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Abstract. The source contributions to carbonaceous PM 2.5 aerosol were investigated at a European background site at the edge of the Po Valley, in Northern Italy, during the period January-December 2007. Carbonaceous aerosol was described as the sum of 8 source components: primary (1) and secondary (2) biomass burning organic carbon, biomass burning elemental carbon (3), primary (4) and secondary (5) fossil organic carbon, fossil fuel burning elemental carbon (6), primary (7) and secondary (8) biogenic organic carbon. The mass concentration of each component was quantified using a set of macro tracers (organic carbon OC, elemental carbon EC, and levoglucosan), micro tracers (arabitol and mannitol), and 14 C measurements. This was the first time that 14 C measurements covered a full annual cycle with daily resolution. This set of 6 tracers, together with assumed uncertainty ranges of the ratios of OC-to-EC, and the reference fraction of modern carbon in the 8 source categories, provides strong constraints to the source contributions to carbonaceous aerosol. The uncertainty of contributions was assessed with a Quasi-Monte Carlo (QMC) method accounting for the variability of OC and EC emission factors, the uncertainty of reference fractions of modern carbon, and the measurement uncertainty.During winter, biomass burning composed 64 % (±15 %) of the total carbon (TC) concentration, while in summer secondary biogenic OC accounted for 50 % (±16 %) of TC. The contribution of primary biogenic aerosol particles was Correspondence to: E. Vignati (elisabetta.vignati@jrc.ec.europa.eu) negligible during the entire year. Moreover, aerosol associated with fossil sources represented 27 % (±16 %) and 41 % (±26 %) of TC in winter and summer, respectively. The contribution of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) to the organic mass (OM) was significant during the entire year. SOA accounted for 30 % (±16 %) and 85 % (±12 %) of OM during winter and summer, respectively. While the summer SOA was dominated by biogenic sources, winter SOA was mainly due to biomass burning and fossil sources. This indicates that the oxidation of semi-volatile and intermediate volatility organic compounds co-emitted with primary organics is a significant source of SOA, as suggested by recent model results and Aerosol Mass Spectrometer measurements. Comparison with previous global model simulations, indicates a strong underestimate of wintertime primary aerosol emissions in this region. The comparison of source apportionment results in different urban and rural areas showed that the sampling site was mainly affected by local aerosol sources during winter and regional air masses from the nearby Po Valley in summer. This observation was further confirmed by backtrajectory analysis applying the Potential Source Contribution Function method to identify potential source regions.

The ozonolytic decomposition of terpenes and terpenoids during sampling on Tenax is investigated in an artificial air system at ambient concentration levels. The detrimental effect of 8-150 ppbv ozone depends on the chemical structure of the compounds:  saturated terpenoids such as 1,8-cineole, camphor, and bornyl acetate are unaffected by ozone. The terpenes and terpenoids which containing one C-C double bond are slightly decomposed in the order camphene < β-pinene ≈ myrtenal < α-pinene < sabinene ≈ citronellal. The compounds containing two or more double bonds are significantly decomposed in the order d-limonene ≈ citral < linalool < β-ocimene < terpinolene << α-terpinene ≈ β-caryophyllene. For α-pinene, sabinene and d-limonene, their ozonolysis products are found on the tubes:  pinonaldehyde, 5-(1-methylethyl)bicyclo[3.1.0]hexan-2-one, and 3-(1-methylethenyl)-6-oxoheptanal. The analytical recoveries are significantly enhanced for many compounds when the sampling duration is reduced from 10 min to 30 s, explained by the time available for ozonolysis. A miniature ozone scrubber with multiple layers of MnO(2)-coated copper nets was developed and thoroughly tested. The optimal number of plies is found to be 8, which ensures quantitative recoveries for all test compounds except α-terpinene, β-caryophyllene, citral, and citronellal. The results that are reported here call into question previous data on terpenes and terpenoids and/or their oxidation products where measurements have been carried out without the prior removal of ozone.