Modeling Novel Aqueous Particle and Cloud Chemistry Processes of Biomass Burning Phenols and Their Potential to Form Secondary Organic Aerosols

Phenols emitted from biomass burning contribute significantly to secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation through the partitioning of semivolatile products formed from gas-phase chemistry and multiphase chemistry in aerosol liquid water and clouds. The aqueous-phase SOA (aqSOA) formed via hydroxyl radical (•OH), singlet molecular oxygen (1O2*), and triplet excited states of organic compounds (3C*), which oxidize dissolved phenols in the aqueous phase, might play a significant role in the evolution of organic aerosol (OA). However, a quantitative and predictive understanding of aqSOA has been challenging. Here, we develop a stand-alone box model to investigate the formation of SOA from gas-phase •OH chemistry and aqSOA formed by the dissolution of phenols followed by their aqueous-phase reactions with •OH, 1O2*, and 3C* in cloud droplets and aerosol liquid water. We investigate four phenolic compounds, i.e., phenol, guaiacol, syringol, and guaiacyl acetone (GA), which represent some of the key potential sources of aqSOA from biomass burning in clouds. For the same initial precursor organic gas that dissolves in aerosol/cloud liquid water and subsequently reacts with aqueous phase oxidants, we predict that the aqSOA formation potential (defined as aqSOA formed per unit dissolved organic gas concentration) of these phenols is higher than that of isoprene-epoxydiol (IEPOX), a well-known aqSOA precursor. Cloud droplets can dissolve a broader range of soluble phenols compared to aqueous aerosols, since the liquid water contents of aerosols are orders of magnitude smaller than cloud droplets. Our simulations suggest that highly soluble and reactive multifunctional phenols like GA would predominantly undergo cloud chemistry within cloud layers, while gas-phase chemistry is likely to be more important for less soluble phenols. But in the absence of clouds, the condensation of low-volatility products from gas-phase oxidation followed by their reversible partitioning to organic aerosols dominates SOA formation, while the SOA formed through aqueous aerosol chemistry increases with relative humidity (RH), approaching 40% of the sum of gas and aqueous aerosol chemistry at 95% RH for GA. Our model developments of biomass-burning phenols and their aqueous chemistry can be readily implemented in regional and global atmospheric chemistry models to investigate the aqueous aerosol and cloud chemistry of biomass-burning organic gases in the atmosphere.

Optical Variation and Molecular Transformation of Brown Carbon During Oxidation by NO3• in the Aqueous Phase

The NO3•-driven nighttime aging of brown carbon (BrC) is known to greatly impact its atmospheric radiative forcing. However, the impact of oxidation by NO3• on the optical properties of BrC in atmospheric waters as well as the associated reaction mechanism remain unclear. In this work, we found that the optical variation of BrC proxies under environmentally relevant NO3• exposure depends strongly on their sources, with enhanced light absorptivity for biomass-burning BrC but bleaching for urban aerosols and humic substances. High-resolution mass spectrometry using FT-ICR MS shows that oxidation by NO3• leads to the formation of light-absorbing species (e.g., nitrated organics) for biomass-burning BrC while destroying electron donors (e.g., phenols) within charge transfer complexes in urban aerosols and humic substances, as evidenced by transient absorption spectroscopy and NaBH4 reduction experiments as well. Moreover, we found that the measured rate constants between NO3• with real BrCs (k = (1.8 ± 0.6) × 107 MC-1s-1, expressed as moles of carbon) are much higher than those of individual model organic carbon (OC), suggesting the reaction with OCs may be a previously ill-quantified important sink of NO3• in atmospheric waters. This work provides insights into the kinetics and molecular transformation of BrC during the oxidation by NO3•, facilitating further evaluation of BrC's climatic effects and atmospheric NO3• levels.

Oxidation of Catechols at the Air-Water Interface by Nitrate Radicals

Abundant substituted catechols are emitted to, and created in, the atmosphere during wildfires and anthropogenic combustion and agro-industrial processes. While ozone (O3) and hydroxyl radicals (HO•) efficiently react in a 1 μs contact time with catechols at the air-water interface, the nighttime reactivity dominated by nitrate radicals (NO3) remains unexplored. Herein, online electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (OESI-MS) is used to explore the reaction of NO3(g) with a series of representative catechols (catechol, pyrogallol, 3-methylcatechol, 4-methylcatechol, and 3-methoxycatechol) on the surface of aqueous microdroplets. The work detects the ultrafast generation of nitrocatechol (aromatic) compounds, which are major constituents of atmospheric brown carbon. Two mechanisms are proposed to produce nitrocatechols, one (equivalent to H atom abstraction) following fast electron transfer from the catechols (QH2) to NO3, forming NO3- and QH2•+ that quickly deprotonates into a semiquinone radical (QH•). The second mechanism proceeds via cyclohexadienyl radical intermediates from NO3 attack to the ring. Experiments in the pH range from 4 to 8 showed that the production of nitrocatechols was favored under the most acidic conditions. Mechanistically, the results explain the interfacial production of chromophoric nitrocatechols that modify the absorption properties of tropospheric particles, making them more susceptible to photooxidation, and alter the Earth's radiative forcing.

Inorganic Ions Enhance the Number of Product Compounds through Heterogeneous Processing of Gaseous NO2 on an Aqueous Layer of Acetosyringone

Methoxyphenols represent important pollutants that can participate in the formation of secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) through chemical reactions with atmospheric oxidants. In this study, we determine the influence of ionic strength, pH, and temperature on the heterogeneous reaction of NO₂ with an aqueous film consisting of acetosyringone (ACS), as a proxy for methoxyphenols. The uptake coefficient of NO₂ (50 ppb) on ACS (1 × 10^-5 mol L^-1) is γ = (9.3 ± 0.09) × 10^-8 at pH 5, and increases by one order of magnitude to γ = (8.6 ± 0.5) × 10^-7 at pH 11. The lifetime of ACS due to its reaction with NO₂ is largely affected by the presence of nitrate ions and sulfate ions encountered in aqueous aerosols. The analysis performed by membrane inlet single-photon ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MI-SPI-TOFMS) reveals an increase in the number of product compounds and a change of their chemical composition upon addition of nitrate ions and sulfate ions to the aqueous thin layer consisting of ACS. These outcomes indicate that inorganic ions can play an important role during the heterogeneous oxidation processes in aqueous aerosol particles.

Deciphering Evolution Pathway of Supported NO3 • Enabled via Radical Transfer from •OH to Surface NO3 - Functionality for Oxidative Degradation of Aqueous Contaminants

NO₃ ^• can compete with omnipotent ^•OH/SO₄ ^•- in decomposing aqueous pollutants because of its lengthy lifespan and significant tolerance to background scavengers present in H₂O matrices, albeit with moderate oxidizing power. The generation of NO₃ ^•, however, is of grand demand due to the need of NO₂ ^•/O₃, radioactive element, or NaNO₃/HNO₃ in the presence of highly energized electron/light. This study has pioneered a singular pathway used to radicalize surface NO₃ ^- functionalities anchored on polymorphic α-/γ-MnO₂ surfaces (α-/γ-MnO₂-N), in which Lewis acidic Mn^2+/3+ and NO₃ ^- served to form ^•OH via H₂O₂ dissection and NO₃ ^• via radical transfer from ^•OH to NO₃ ^- (^•OH → NO₃ ^•), respectively. The elementary steps proposed for the ^•OH → NO₃ ^• route could be energetically favorable and marginal except for two stages such as endothermic ^•OH desorption and exothermic ^•OH-mediated NO₃ ^- radicalization, as verified by EPR spectroscopy experiments and DFT calculations. The Lewis acidic strength of the Mn^2+/3+ species innate to α-MnO₂-N was the smallest among those inherent to α-/β-/γ-MnO₂ and α-/γ-MnO₂-N. Hence, α-MnO₂-N prompted the rate-determining stage of the ^•OH → NO₃ ^• route (^•OH desorption) in the most efficient manner, as also evidenced by the analysis on the energy barrier required to proceed with the ^•OH → NO₃ ^• route. Meanwhile, XANES and in situ DRIFT spectroscopy experiments corroborated that α-MnO₂-N provided a larger concentration of surface NO₃ ^- species with bi-dentate binding arrays than γ-MnO₂-N. Hence, α-MnO₂-N could outperform γ-MnO₂-N in improving the collision frequency between ^•OH and NO₃ ^- species and in facilitating the exothermic transition of NO₃ ^- functionalities to surface NO₃ ^• analogues per unit time. These were corroborated by a greater efficiency of α-MnO₂-N in decomposing phenol, in addition to scavenging/filtration control runs and DFT calculations. Importantly, supported NO₃ ^• species provided 5-7-fold greater efficiency in degrading textile wastewater than conventional ^•OH and supported SO₄ ^•- analogues we discovered previously.

Guaiacol Nitration in a Simulated Atmospheric Aerosol with an Emphasis on Atmospheric Nitrophenol Formation Mechanisms

Atmospheric nitrophenols are pollutants of concern due to their toxicity and light-absorption characteristics and their low reactivity resulting in relatively long residence times in the environment. We investigate multiphase nitrophenol formation from guaiacol in a simulated atmospheric aerosol and support observations with the corresponding chemical mechanisms. The maximal secondary organic aerosol (SOA) yield (42%) is obtained under illumination at 80% relative humidity. Among the identified nitrophenols, 4-nitrocatechol (3.6% yield) is the prevailing species in the particulate phase. The results point to the role of water in catechol and further 4-nitrocatechol formation from guaiacol. In addition, a new pathway of dark nitrophenol formation is suggested, which prevailed in dry air and roughly yielded 1% nitroguaiacols. Furthermore, the proposed mechanism possibly leads to oligomer formation via a phenoxy radical formation by oxidation with HONO.

Reactivity of aromatic contaminants towards nitrate radical in tropospheric gas and aqueous phase

Aromatic compounds (ACs) give a substantial contribution to the anthropogenic emissions of volatile organic compounds. Nitrate radicals (NO₃) are significant oxidants in the lower troposphere during nighttime, with concentrations of (2-20) × 10⁸ molecules cm^-3. In this study, the tropospheric gas and liquid phase reactions of ACs with nitrate radical are investigated using theoretical computational methods, which can give a deep insight into the reaction mechanisms and kinetics. Results show that the reactivity of ACs with nitrate radicals decreases as the electron donating characteristics of the functional group on the ACs decrease, as ΔG^≠ of the reaction with NO₃ increasing from -1.17 to 17.84 kcal mol^-1. The reaction of NO₃ towards ACs in the aqueous phase is more preferable, with the atmospheric lifetime 0.07-1281 min. An assessment of the aquatic toxicity of ACs and their degradation products indicated that the risk of their degradation products remains and should be given more attention.

New Insights into the Photochemical Degradation of the Insensitive Munition Formulation IMX-101 in Water

This study describes photolysis of the insensitive munition formulation IMX-101 [2,4-dinitroanisole (DNAN), NQ (nitroguanidine), and 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (NTO)] in aqueous solutions using a solar simulating photoreactor. Due to a large variance in the water solubility of the three constituents DNAN (276 mg L^-1), NQ (5,000 mg L^-1), and NTO (16,642 mg L^-1), two solutions of IMX-101 were prepared: one with low concentration (109.3 mg L^-1) and another with high concentration (2831 mg L^-1). The degradation rate constants of DNAN, NQ, and NTO (0.137, 0.075, and 0.202 d^-1, respectively) in the low concentration solution were lower than those of the individually photolyzed components (0.262, 1.181, and 0.349 d^-1, respectively). In the high concentration solution, the molar loss of NTO was 4.3 times higher than that of NQ after 7 days of irradiation, although NQ was two times more concentrated and that NQ alone degraded faster than NTO. In addition to the known degradation products, DNAN removal in IMX-101 was accompanied by multiple productions of methoxydinitrophenols, which were not observed during photolysis of DNAN alone. One route for the formation of methoxydinitrophenols was suggested to involve photonitration of the DNAN photoproduct methoxynitrophenol during simultaneous photodenitration of NQ and NTO in IMX-101. Indeed, when DNAN was photolyzed in the presence of ¹⁵NO₂-labeled explosive CL-20, we detected methoxydinitrophenols with an increase of 1 mass unit, indicating that denitration of DNAN and renitration of products simultaneously occurred. As was the case with DNAN, we found that guanidine, a primary degradation product of NQ, also underwent renitration in the presence of NTO and the photocatalyst TiO₂. We concluded that the three constituents of IMX-101 can be photodegraded in surface water and that fate and primary degradation products of IMX-101 can be influenced by the interactions between the formulation ingredients and their degradation products.

Oxidation of substituted aromatic hydrocarbons in the tropospheric aqueous phase: kinetic mechanism development and modelling

An aqueous-phase chemistry mechanism for the oxidation of aromatic compounds in the atmosphere is developed based on available kinetic data. Detailed model studies successfully describe the oxidation and functionalization of monoaromatic compounds in the atmosphere.

Molecular Chemistry of Atmospheric Brown Carbon Inferred from a Nationwide Biomass Burning Event

Lag Ba'Omer, a nationwide bonfire festival in Israel, was chosen as a case study to investigate the influence of a major biomass burning event on the light absorption properties of atmospheric brown carbon (BrC). The chemical composition and optical properties of BrC chromophores were investigated using a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) platform coupled to photo diode array (PDA) and high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) detectors. Substantial increase of BrC light absorption coefficient was observed during the night-long biomass burning event. Most chromophores observed during the event were attributed to nitroaromatic compounds (NAC), comprising 28 elemental formulas of at least 63 structural isomers. The NAC, in combination, accounted for 50-80% of the total visible light absorption (>400 nm) by solvent extractable BrC. The results highlight that NAC, in particular nitrophenols, are important light absorption contributors of biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA), suggesting that night time chemistry of •NO₃ and N₂O₅ with particles may play a significant role in atmospheric transformations of BrC. Nitrophenols and related compounds were especially important chromophores of BBOA. The absorption spectra of the BrC chromophores are influenced by the extraction solvent and solution pH, implying that the aerosol acidity is an important factor controlling the light absorption properties of BrC.

A QSAR for the prediction of rate constants for the reaction of VOCs with nitrate radicals

A QSAR for the prediction of rate constants for the degradation of volatile organic compounds by nitrate radicals is developed using the Partial Least Squares technique. The QSAR is based on experimental data published in the literature for 260 compounds. They are modeled by a set of calculated descriptors from standard descriptor generation tools and from quantum chemistry. Out of several diversity-based partitionings of the data set a diverse set of 99 compounds turned out to be the optimum choice with regard to simplicity and performance. The final QSAR model is characterized by r(2) = 0.831 (fit) and q(2) = 0.823 (prediction), and by an r(2)pred = 0.862 for the n = 155 external validation set. The QSAR needs 3 latent variables. The most important descriptors for the QSAR are the ionization potential, obtained from density functional theory, and the energy of the highest occupied molecular orbital, which are modulated by fingerprints indicating the presence of specific molecular fragments like functional groups or ring systems. The applicability domain of the new QSAR was studied for some compound classes which are important for the crop protection industry, including (di)hydroxbenzenes and heterocyclic compounds.

Computation of the bond dissociation enthalpies and free energies of hydroxylic antioxidants using the ab initio Hartree-Fock method

INTRODUCTION

A new method for calculating theoretical bond dissociation enthalpy (BDE) and bond dissociation free energy (BDFE) of hydroxylic antioxidants is forwarded. BDE and BDFE may be understood as activation energies accompanying the formation of transition states, which may undergo downhill homolytic dissociation. The new method does not involve the complete fission of O-H bonds.

METHOD

Theoretical gas phase BDE values were calculated with the ab initio unrestricted Hartree-Fock (UHF) method, as changes in enthalpy between ground singlet states (GS) and triplet dissociative states (DS). Similarly, gas phase BDFEs were estimated from the corresponding changes in Gibbs free energy. The results were then compared with reliable experimental reports.

RESULTS

The proposed theoretical approach of BDE and BDFE determination was tested using 10 simple phenols, 5 flavonoids, and l-ascorbic acid derivatives. The agreement between our calculated gas phase results and the adopted experimental values were generally within 0.5 kcal mol(-1), with a very few exceptions.

DISCUSSION

Generally, steric interactions as well as intramolecular hydrogen bonding involving the dissociating OH group should be minimized in the GS. The DS are both electronically and vibrationally exited transition states. They have one unpaired electron on the carbon atom, which bears the homolytically dissociating OH group and are second order saddle points with a fixed

CONCLUSION

It was concluded that ab initio UHF was well suited for the estimation of gas phase BDE and BDFE. The method presented has a good potential for application across a range of hydroxylic antioxidants. Currently, work is underway to extend its application in other class of antioxidants.

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Key Words

• antioxidants
• bond dissociation enthalpy
• bond dissociation free energy
• thermodynamics

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MESH Headings

• Algorithms
• Antioxidants/chemistry
• Ascorbic Acid/chemistry
• Flavonoids/chemistry
• Gases
• Hydroxides/chemistry
• Isomerism
• Models, Theoretical
• Molecular Structure
• Phenols/chemistry
• Quantum Theory
• Thermodynamics

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Affiliation(s)

Ameha Seyoum Woldu Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Joachim Mai

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Tropospheric aqueous-phase free-radical chemistry: radical sources, spectra, reaction kinetics and prediction tools

The most important radicals which need to be considered for the description of chemical conversion processes in tropospheric aqueous systems are the hydroxyl radical (OH), the nitrate radical (NO(3)) and sulphur-containing radicals such as the sulphate radical (SO(4)(-)). For each of the three radicals their generation and their properties are discussed first in the corresponding sections. The main focus herein is to summarize newly published aqueous-phase kinetic data on OH, NO(3) and SO(4)(-) radical reactions relevant for the description of multiphase tropospheric chemistry. The data compilation builds up on earlier datasets published in the literature. Since the last review in 2003 (H. Herrmann, Chem. Rev. 2003, 103, 4691-4716) more than hundred new rate constants are available from literature. In case of larger discrepancies between novel and already published rate constants the available kinetic data for these reactions are discussed and recommendations are provided when possible. As many OH kinetic data are obtained by means of the thiocyanate (SCN(-)) system in competition kinetic measurements of OH radical reactions this system is reviewed in a subchapter of this review. Available rate constants for the reaction sequence following the reaction of OH+SCN(-) are summarized. Newly published data since 2003 have been considered and averaged rate constants are calculated. Applying competition kinetics measurements usually the formation of the radical anion (SCN)(2)(-) is monitored directly by absorption measurements. Within this subchapter available absorption spectra of the (SCN)(2)(-) radical anion from the last five decades are presented. Based on these spectra an averaged (SCN)(2)(-) spectrum was calculated. In the last years different estimation methods for aqueous phase kinetic data of radical reactions have been developed and published. Such methods are often essential to estimate kinetic data which are not accessible from the literature. Approaches for rate constant prediction include empirical correlations as well as structure activity relationships (SAR) either with or without the usage of quantum chemical descriptors. Recently published estimation methods for OH, NO(3) and SO(4)(-) radical reactions in aqueous solution are finally summarized, compared and discussed.

Study of nitrate radical (NO3) reactions with carbonyls and acids in aqueous solution as a function of temperature

Using laser photolysis experiments, the reactivity of the nitrate radical towards four carbonyl compounds and three carboxylic acids was studied. All kinetics measurements were carried out as a function of the temperature in the range from 278 K to 318 K. Furthermore, the effect of the acid-base equilibrium on the reactivity of the three acids was studied by measuring the activation parameters of the dissociated and undissociated acids at pH = 6 and pH = 0.5, respectively. The following Arrhenius expressions were obtained: [Formulas: see text]. Errors stated throughout this study are statistical errors for a confidence interval of 95%. The importance of the obtained results for the understanding of the tropospheric oxidation processes is discussed. The kinetics resulting from this work are compared with results for other atmospheric radicals.