Photodissociation Dynamics of Methyl Hydroperoxide at 193 nm: A Trajectory Surface-Hopping Study

The photodissociation of methyl hydroperoxide (CH₃OOH) at 193 nm has been studied using a direct dynamics trajectory surface-hopping (TSH) method. The potential energies, energy gradients, and nonadiabatic couplings are calculated on the fly at the MRCIS(6,7)/aug-cc-pVDZ level of theory. The hopping of a trajectory from one electronic state to another is decided on the basis of Tully's fewest switches algorithm. An analysis of the trajectories reveals that the cleavage of the weakest O-O bond leads to major products CH₃O(²E) + OH(²Π), contributing about 72.7% of the overall product formation. This OH elimination was completed in the ground degenerate product state where both the ground singlet (S₀) and first excited singlet (S₁) states become degenerate. The O-H bond dissociation of CH₃OOH is a minor channel contributing about 27.3% to product formation, resulting in products CH₃OO + H. An inspection of the trajectories indicates that unlike the major channel OH elimination, the H-atom elimination channel makes a significant contribution (∼3% of the overall product formation) through the nonadiabatic pathway via conical intersection S₁/S₀ leading to ground-state products CH₃OO(X ²A″) + H(²S) in addition to adiabatic dissociation in the first excited singlet state, S₁, correlating to products CH₃OO(1 ²A') + H(²S). The computed translational energy of the majority of the OH products is found to be high, distributed in the range of 70 to 100 kcal/mol, indicating that the dissociation takes place on a strong repulsive potential energy surface. This finding is consistent with the nature of the experimentally derived translational energy distribution of OH with an average translational energy of 67 kcal/mol after the excitation of CH₃OOH at 193 nm.

A theoretical study of the addition of CH2OO to hydroxymethyl hydroperoxide and its implications on SO3 formation in the atmosphere

The reaction of hydroxymethyl hydroperoxide (HMHP, HOCH₂OOH) with the simplest Criegee intermediate, CH₂OO, has been examined using quantum chemical methods with transition state theory. Geometry optimization and IRC calculations were performed using the M06-2X, MN15-L, and B2PLYP-D3 functionals in conjunction with the aug-cc-pVTZ basis set. Single point energy calculations using QCISD(T) and BD(T) with the same basis set have been performed to determine the energy of reactants, reactive complexes, transition states, and products. Rate coefficients have been obtained using variational transition state theory. The addition of CH₂OO on the three different oxygen atoms in HMHP has been considered and the ether oxide forming channel, CH₂OO + HOCH₂OOH → HOCH₂O(O)CH₂OOH (channel 2), is the most favorable. The best computed standard enthalpy of reaction (ΔH) and zero-point corrected barrier height are -20.02 and -6.33 kcal mol^-1, respectively. The reaction barrier is negative and our results suggest that both the inner and outer transition states contribute to the corresponding overall reactive flux in the tropospheric temperature range (220 K to 320 K). A two-transition state model has been used to obtain reliable rate coefficients at the high-pressure limit. The pressure-dependent rate coefficient calculations using the SS-QRRK theory have shown that this channel is pressure-dependent. Moreover, our investigation has shown that the ether oxide formed may rapidly react with SO₂ at 298 K to form SO₃, which can, in turn, react with water to form atmospheric H₂SO₄. A similar calculation has been conducted for the reaction of HMHP with OH, suggesting that the titled reaction may be a significant sink of HMHP. Therefore, the reaction between CH₂OO and HOCH₂OOH could be an indirect source for generating atmospheric H₂SO₄, which is crucial to the formation of clouds, and it might relieve global warming.

Formaldehyde in the Tropical Western Pacific: Chemical sources and sinks, convective transport, and representation in CAM-Chem and the CCMI models

Formaldehyde (HCHO) directly affects the atmospheric oxidative capacity through its effects on HOx. In remote marine environments, such as the Tropical Western Pacific (TWP), it is particularly important to understand the processes controlling the abundance of HCHO because model output from these regions is used to correct satellite retrievals of HCHO. Here, we have used observations from the CONTRAST field campaign, conducted during January and February 2014, to evaluate our understanding of the processes controlling the distribution of HCHO in the TWP as well as its representation in chemical transport/climate models. Observed HCHO mixing ratios varied from ~500 pptv near the surface to ~75 pptv in the upper troposphere. Recent convective transport of near surface HCHO and its precursors, acetaldehyde and possibly methyl hydroperoxide, increased upper tropospheric HCHO mixing ratios by ~33% (22 pptv); this air contained roughly 60% less NO than more aged air. Output from the CAM-Chem chemistry transport model (2014 meteorology) as well as nine chemistry climate models from the Chemistry-Climate Model Initiative (free-running meteorology) are found to uniformly underestimate HCHO columns derived from in situ observations by between 4 and 50%. This underestimate of HCHO likely results from a near factor of two underestimate of NO in most models, which strongly suggests errors in NOx emissions inventories and/or in the model chemical mechanisms. Likewise, the lack of oceanic acetaldehyde emissions and potential errors in the model acetaldehyde chemistry lead to additional underestimates in modeled HCHO of up to 75 pptv (~15%) in the lower troposphere.

Improved pKa Prediction of Substituted Alcohols, Phenols, and Hydroperoxides in Aqueous Medium Using Density Functional Theory and a Cluster-Continuum Solvation Model

Acid dissociation constants (pK_a's) are key physicochemical properties that are needed to understand the structure and reactivity of molecules in solution. Theoretical pK_a's have been calculated for a set of 72 organic compounds with -OH and -OOH groups (48 with known experimental pK_a's). This test set includes 17 aliphatic alcohols, 25 substituted phenols, and 30 hydroperoxides. Calculations in aqueous medium have been carried out with SMD implicit solvation and three hybrid DFT functionals (B3LYP, ωB97XD, and M06-2X) with two basis sets (6-31+G(d,p) and 6-311++G(d,p)). The effect of explicit water molecules on calculated pK_a's was assessed by including up to three water molecules. pK_a's calculated with only SMD implicit solvation are found to have average errors greater than 6 pK_a units. Including one explicit water reduces the error by about 3 pK_a units, but the error is still far from chemical accuracy. With B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) and three explicit water molecules in SMD solvation, the mean signed error and standard deviation are only -0.02 ± 0.55; a linear fit with zero intercept has a slope of 1.005 and R² = 0.97. Thus, this level of theory can be used to calculate pK_a's directly without the need for linear correlations or thermodynamic cycles. Estimated pK_a values are reported for 24 hydroperoxides that have not yet been determined experimentally.

Calculation of anharmonic effects for the unimolecular dissociation of CH3OOH and its deuterated species CD3OOD using the Rice–Ramsperger–Kassel–Marcus theory

Anharmonic and harmonic rate constants for the unimolecular dissociation of CH3OOH and CD3OOD were calculated using the Rice–Ramsperger–Kassel–Marcus (RRKM) theory at the MP2/6-311++G(3df,3pd) level of theory. The anharmonic effect of the reactions was investigated. Comparison of results for the decompositions of CH3OOH and CD3OOD shows that the direct bond dissociation channel, CH3(D3) O + OH (D), is the most dominant reaction. The anharmonic effect plays an important role in the unimolecular dissociation of both CH3OOH and CD3OOD. For channels CH3(D3) O + OH (D) and CH3(D3) + H (D) O2, the anharmonic effect of the unimolecular dissociation of CD3OOD is more pronounced than that of the unimolecular dissociation of CH3OOH. For channel H2(D2) CO + H2(D2) O, the anharmonic effect of the unimolecular dissociation of CH3OOH is more pronounced than that of the unimolecular dissociation of CD3OOD. The isotope effect is more distinct in the anharmonic oscillator model.

Acid-catalyzed heterogeneous reaction of 3-methyl-2-buten-1-ol with hydrogen peroxide

Acid-catalyzed heterogeneous oxidation with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) has been suggested to be a potential pathway for secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from isoprene and its oxidation products. However, knowledge of the chemical mechanism and kinetics for this process is still incomplete. 3-Methyl-2-buten-1-ol (MBO321), an aliphatic alcohol structurally similar to isoprene, is emitted by pine forests and widely used in the manufacturing industries. Herein the uptake of MBO321 into H2SO4-H2O2 mixed solution was investigated using a flow-tube reactor coupled to a mass spectrometer. The reactive uptake coefficients (γ) were acquired for the first time and were found to increase rapidly with increasing acid concentration. Corresponding aqueous-phase reactions were performed to further study the mechanism of this acid-catalyzed reaction. MBO321 could convert to 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol (MBO232) and yield isoprene in acidic media. Organic hydroperoxides (ROOHs) were found to be generated through the acid-catalyzed route, which could undergo a rearrangement reaction and result in the formation of acetone and acetaldehyde. Organosulfates, which have been proposed to be SOA tracer compounds in the atmosphere, were also produced during the oxidation process. These results suggest that the heterogeneous acid-catalyzed reaction of MBO321 with H2O2 may contribute to SOA mass under certain atmospheric conditions.

Organic hydroperoxide formation in the acid-catalyzed heterogeneous oxidation of aliphatic alcohols with hydrogen peroxide

We present detailed mechanisms for the formation and degradation of organic hydroperoxide during the acid-catalyzed heterogeneous oxidation of aliphatic alcohols with hydrogen peroxide.

Unimolecular decomposition of ethyl hydroperoxide: ab initio/Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus theoretical prediction of rate constants

Alkyl hydroperoxides are found to be important intermediates in the combustion and oxidation processes of hydrocarbons. However, studies of ethyl hydroperoxide (CH(3)CH(2)OOH) are limited. In this work, kinetics and mechanisms for unimolecular decomposition of CH(3)CH(2)OOH have been investigated. The potential energy surface of decomposition reactions have first been predicted at the CCSD(T)/6-311+G(3df,2p)//B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level. The results show that the formation of CH(3)CH(2)O + OH via O-O direct bond dissociation is dominant, the branching ratio of which is over 99% in the whole temperature range from 300 to 1000 K, and its rate constant can be expressed as k1 = 9.26 × 10(52)T(-11.91)exp(-26879/T) s(-1) at 1 atm. The rate constants of the reaction CH(3)CH(2)OOH → CH(3)CH(2)O + OH at different temperatures and pressures have been calculated, which can help us to comprehend the reactions of CH(3)CH(2)OOH at experimental conditions.

Ultrafast photochemistry of methyl hydroperoxide on ice particles

Simulations show that photodissociation of methyl hydroperoxide, CH(3)OOH, on water clusters produces a surprisingly wide range of products on a subpicosecond time scale, pointing to the possibility of complex photodegradation pathways for organic peroxides on aerosols and water droplets. Dynamics are computed at several excitation energies at 50 K using a semiempirical PM3 potential surface. CH(3)OOH is found to prefer the exterior of the cluster, with the CH(3)O group sticking out and the OH group immersed within the cluster. At atmospherically relevant photodissociation wavelengths the OH and CH(3)O photofragments remain at the surface of the cluster or embedded within it. However, none of the 25 completed trajectories carried out at the atmospherically relevant photodissociation energies led to recombination of OH and CH(3)O to form CH(3)OOH. Within the limited statistics of the available trajectories the predicted yield for the recombination is zero. Instead, various reactions involving the initial fragments and water promptly form a wide range of stable molecular products such as CH(2)O, H(2)O, H(2), CO, CH(3)OH, and H(2)O(2).

Unimolecular dissociation and thermochemistry of CH3OOH

The unimolecular dissociation of CH3OOH is investigated by exciting the molecule in the region of its 5nu(OH) band and probing the resulting OH fragments using laser-induced fluorescence. The measured OH fragment rotational and translational energies are used to determine the CH3O-OH bond dissociation energy, which we estimate to be approximately 42.6+/-1 kcal/mol. Combining this value with the known heats of formation of the fragments also gives an estimate for the heat of formation of CH3OOH which at 0 K we determine to be deltaH(f)0=-27+/-1 kcal/mol. This experimental value is in good agreement with the results of ab initio calculations carried out at the CCSD(T)/complete basis set limit which finds the heat of formation of CH3OOH at 0 K to be deltaH(f)0=-27.3 kcal/mol.

The importance of weak absorption features in promoting tropospheric radical production

Atmospheric field measurement and modeling studies have long noted discrepancies between observation and predictions of OH and HO(2) concentrations in the atmosphere. Novel photochemical mechanisms have been proposed to explain these differences. Although inclusion of these additional sources improves agreement, they are unable to fully account for the observations. We report and demonstrate the importance of weak electronic absorption features, normally ignored or not measured, in contributing to significant OH radical production. Experiments on methyl hydroperoxide, a prototypical organic peroxide in large abundance in the troposphere, highlights how photochemistry in the neglected electronic absorption tail makes an important addition to the tropospheric OH budget. The present results underscore the need to measure absorption cross sections for atmospheric molecules over a wider dynamic range, especially over the wavelength regions where the solar flux is high, to fully quantitate their contributions to atmospheric photochemistry.