Speciated particle-phase organic nitrates (pONs) were quantified using online chemical ionization MS during June and July of 2013 in rural Alabama as part of the Southern Oxidant and Aerosol Study. A large fraction of pONs is highly functionalized, possessing between six and eight oxygen atoms within each carbon number group, and is not the common first generation alkyl nitrates previously reported. Using calibrations for isoprene hydroxynitrates and the measured molecular compositions, we estimate that pONs account for 3% and 8% of total submicrometer organic aerosol mass, on average, during the day and night, respectively. Each of the isoprene-and monoterpenes-derived groups exhibited a strong diel trend consistent with the emission patterns of likely biogenic hydrocarbon precursors. An observationally constrained diel box model can replicate the observed pON assuming that pONs (i) are produced in the gas phase and rapidly establish gasparticle equilibrium and (ii) have a short particle-phase lifetime (∼2-4 h). Such dynamic behavior has significant implications for the production and phase partitioning of pONs, organic aerosol mass, and reactive nitrogen speciation in a forested environment. O rganic nitrates (ONs; ON = RONO 2 + RO 2 NO 2 ) are an important reservoir, if not sink, of atmospheric nitrogen oxides (NO x = NO + NO 2 ). ONs formed from isoprene oxidation alone are responsible for the export of 8-30% of anthropogenic NO x out of the US continental boundary layer (1, 2). Regional NO x budgets and tropospheric ozone (O 3 ) production are, therefore, particularly sensitive to uncertainties in the yields and fates of ON (3-6). The yields implemented in modeling studies are determined from laboratory experiments, in which only a few of the first generation gaseous ONs or the total gas-phase ONs and particle-phase organic nitrates (pONs) have been quantified, whereas production of highly functionalized ONs capable of strongly partitioning to the particle phase have been inferred (7-11) or directly measured in the gas phase (12). Addition of a nitrate (-ONO 2 ) functional group to a hydrocarbon is estimated to lower the equilibrium saturation vapor pressure by 2.5-3 orders of magnitude (13). Thus, ON formation can enhance particle-phase partitioning of semivolatile species in regions with elevated levels of nitrogen oxides, contributing to secondary organic aerosol (SOA) growth (8). However, highly time-resolved measurements of speciated ON in the particle phase have been lacking.We use a recently developed high-resolution time-of-flight chemical ionization mass spectrometer (HRToF-CIMS) using iodide-adduct ionization (14) with a filter inlet for gases and aerosols (FIGAERO) (15) that allows alternating in situ measurements of the molecular SignificanceWe present online field observations of the speciated molecular composition of organic nitrates in ambient atmospheric particles utilizing recently developed high-resolution MS-based instrumentation. We find that never-before-identified low-volatility organi...

Abstract. The sensitivity of a chemical ionization mass spectrometer (ions formed per number density of analytes) is fundamentally limited by the collision frequency between reagent ions and analytes, known as the collision limit, the ion-molecule reaction time, and the transmission efficiency of product ions to the detector. We use the response of a timeof-flight chemical ionization mass spectrometer (ToF-CIMS) to N 2 O 5 , known to react with iodide at the collision limit, to constrain the combined effects of ion-molecule reaction time, which is strongly influenced by mixing and ion losses in the ion-molecule reaction drift tube. A mass spectrometric voltage scanning procedure elucidates the relative binding energies of the ion adducts, which influence the transmission efficiency of molecular ions through the electric fields within the vacuum chamber. Together, this information provides a critical constraint on the sensitivity of a ToF-CIMS towards a wide suite of routinely detected multifunctional organic molecules for which no calibration standards exist. We describe the scanning procedure and collision limit determination, and we show results from the application of these constraints to the measurement of organic aerosol composition at two different field locations.

We present measurements as part of the Southern Oxidant and Aerosol Study (SOAS) during which atmospheric aerosol particles were comprehensively characterized. We present results utilizing a Filter Inlet for Gases and AEROsol coupled to a chemical ionization mass spectrometer (CIMS). We focus on the volatility and composition of isoprene derived organic aerosol tracers and of the bulk organic aerosol. By utilizing the online volatility and molecular composition information provided by the FIGAERO-CIMS, we show that the vast majority of commonly reported molecular tracers of isoprene epoxydiol (IEPOX) derived secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is derived from thermal decomposition of accretion products or other low volatility organics having effective saturation vapor concentrations <10(-3) μg m(-3). In addition, while accounting for up to 30% of total submicrometer organic aerosol mass, the IEPOX-derived SOA has a higher volatility than the remaining bulk. That IEPOX-SOA, and more generally bulk organic aerosol in the Southeastern U.S. is comprised of effectively nonvolatile material has important implications for modeling SOA derived from isoprene, and for mechanistic interpretations of molecular tracer measurements. Our results show that partitioning theory performs well for 2-methyltetrols, once accretion product decomposition is taken into account. No significant partitioning delays due to aerosol phase or viscosity are observed, and no partitioning to particle-phase water or other unexplained mechanisms are needed to explain our results.

Iodic acid (HIO3) is known to form aerosol particles in coastal marine regions, but predicted nucleation and growth rates are lacking. Using the CERN CLOUD (Cosmics Leaving Outdoor Droplets) chamber, we find that the nucleation rates of HIO3 particles are rapid, even exceeding sulfuric acid–ammonia rates under similar conditions. We also find that ion-induced nucleation involves IO3− and the sequential addition of HIO3 and that it proceeds at the kinetic limit below +10°C. In contrast, neutral nucleation involves the repeated sequential addition of iodous acid (HIO2) followed by HIO3, showing that HIO2 plays a key stabilizing role. Freshly formed particles are composed almost entirely of HIO3, which drives rapid particle growth at the kinetic limit. Our measurements indicate that iodine oxoacid particle formation can compete with sulfuric acid in pristine regions of the atmosphere.

Iodide-based chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS) has been used to detect and measure concentrations of several atmospherically relevant organic and inorganic compounds. The significant electronegativity of iodide and the strong acidity of hydroiodic acid makes electron transfer and proton abstraction essentially negligible, and the soft nature of the adduct formation ionization technique reduces the chances of sample fragmentation. In addition, iodide has a large negative mass defect, which, when combined with the high resolving power of a high resolution time-of-flight chemical ionization mass spectrometer (HR-ToF-CIMS), provides good selectivity. In this work, we use quantum chemical methods to calculate the binding energies, enthalpies and free energies for clusters of an iodide ion with a number of atmospherically relevant organic and inorganic compounds. Systematic configurational sampling of the free molecules and clusters was carried out at the B3LYP/6-31G* level, followed by subsequent calculations at the PBE/SDD and DLPNO-CCSD(T)/def2-QZVPP//PBE/aug-cc-pVTZ-PP levels. The binding energies, enthalpies, and free energies thus obtained were then compared to the iodide-based University of Washington HR-ToF-CIMS (UW-CIMS) instrument sensitivities for these molecules. We observed a reasonably linear relationship between the cluster binding enthalpies and logarithmic instrument sensitivities already at the PBE/SDD level, which indicates that relatively simple quantum chemical methods can predict the sensitivity of an iodide-based CIMS instrument toward most molecules. However, higher level calculations were needed to treat some outlier molecules, most notably oxalic acid and methylerythritol. Our calculations also corroborated the recent experimental findings that the molecules that the UW-CIMS detects at maximum sensitivity usually have binding enthalpies to iodide which are higher than about 26 kcal/mol, depending slightly on the level of theory.