No abstract

It is now accepted that one of the important pathways of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation occurs through aqueous phase chemistry in the atmosphere. However, the chemical mechanisms leading to macromolecules are still not well understood. It was recently shown that oligomer production by OH radical oxidation in the aerosol aqueous phase from α-dicarbonyl precursors, such as methylglyoxal and glyoxal, is irreversible and fast.

Methyl vinyl ketone (MVK) was chosen in the present study as it is an α,β-unsaturated carbonyl that can undergo radical oligomerization in the aerosol aqueous phase. We present here experiments on the aqueous phase OH-oxidation of MVK, performed under various conditions. Using NMR and UV absorption spectroscopy, high and ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry, we show that the fast formation of oligomers up to 1800 Da is due to radical oligomerization of MVK, and 13 series of oligomers (out of a total of 26 series) are identified. The influence of atmospherically relevant parameters such as temperature, initial concentrations of MVK and dissolved oxygen are presented and discussed. In agreement with the experimental observations, we propose a chemical mechanism of OH-oxidation of MVK in the aqueous phase that proceeds via radical oligomerization of MVK on the olefin part of the molecule. This mechanism highlights in our experiments the paradoxical role of dissolved O₂: while it inhibits oligomerization reactions, it contributes to produce oligomerization initiator radicals, which rapidly consume O₂, thus leading to the dominance of oligomerization reactions after several minutes of reaction. These processes, together with the large range of initial concentrations investigated show the fundamental role that radical oligomerization processes likely play in polluted fogs and atmospheric aerosol

Transport of reactive air masses into humid and wet areas is highly frequent in the atmosphere, making the study of aqueous phase processing of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) very relevant. We have investigated the aqueous phase processing of SOA generated from gas-phase photooxidation of isoprene using a smog chamber. The SOA collected on filters was extracted by water and subsequently oxidized in the aqueous phase either by H₂O₂ under dark conditions or by OH radicals in the presence of light, using a photochemical reactor. Online and offline analytical techniques including SMPS, HR-AMS, H-TDMA, TD-API-AMS, were employed for physical and chemical characterization of the chamber SOA and nebulized filter extracts. After aqueous phase processing, the particles were significantly more hygroscopic, and HR-AMS data showed higher signal intensity at <i>m/z</i> 44 and a lower signal intensity at <i>m/z</i> 43, thus showing the impact of aqueous phase processing on SOA aging, in good agreement with a few previous studies. Additional offline measurement techniques (IC-MS, APCI-MS² and HPLC-APCI-MS) permitted the identification and quantification of sixteen individual chemical compounds before and after aqueous phase processing. Among these compounds, small organic acids (including formic, glyoxylic, glycolic, butyric, oxalic and 2,3-dihydroxymethacrylic acid (i.e. 2-methylglyceric acid)) were detected, and their concentrations significantly increased after aqueous phase processing. In particular, the aqueous phase formation of 2-methylglyceric acid and trihydroxy-3-methylbutanal was correlated with the consumption of 2,3-dihydroxy-2-methyl-propanal, and 2-methylbutane-1,2,3,4-tetrol, respectively, and an aqueous phase mechanism was proposed accordingly. Overall, the aging effect observed here was rather small compared to previous studies, and this limited effect could possibly be explained by the lower liquid phase OH concentrations employed here, and/or the development of oligomers observed during aqueous phase processing