Explicit mechanisms consist of explicit reactions for individual compounds. Atmospheric chemistry mechanisms usually include explicit mechanisms for the reactions of inorganic compounds, O₃, nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), NO_x (NO + NO₂), hydroxyl radical (HO^•), the hydroperoxy radical (HO₂^•) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂). A typical mechanism for tropospheric inorganic chemistry consists of fewer than 20 species in about 45 inorganic reactions.

The organic chemistry of the troposphere is much more complicated. There are thousands of compounds emitted from biological sources [9] and from anthropogenic sources [10]. The NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) Master Mechanism includes about 800 organic species and 2200 reactions [11] while the Master Chemical Mechanism (MCM) mechanism consists of 2400 species, 7100 reactions for 124 emitted organic compounds [12]. A completely explicit chemical mechanism for the troposphere with all the chemical reactions of every compound could contain millions of reactions [13].

It is impossible to construct an atmospheric gas-phase mechanism from only published laboratory chemical kinetics data because there are significant gaps [14]. Many assumptions and estimates are made to fill in the gaps in order to construct an explicit atmospheric chemistry mechanism (and any other atmospheric chemical mechanism). Some of the largest gaps exist with radical-radical reactions and the oxidation schemes for aromatic and biogenically emitted compounds. For example, the MCM includes detail that exceeds available laboratory data. Many of the mechanism’s organic degradation schemes were developed according to theoretical methodologies such as structure activity relationships (SARs). The MCM has been tested against environmental chamber experiments and field data. This testing has shown that the mechanism can simulate these measurements reasonably well.

Explicit mechanisms are mainly used in box models for chemical research. They are not very practical for 3-D air quality models because of their extensive computational requirements. A reduced version of the MCM has been developed and used for 3-D air quality modeling [15,16]. The practical problem is due to computational issues involving three-dimensional Eulerian regional air quality models. These models consist of 10⁵ or more grid boxes [17]. Every chemical species that exists long enough to be transported by atmospheric motions is a prognostic variable that must be calculated explicitly. Each prognostic variable adds one ordinary differential equation that must be solved and an additional storage location for every grid box. Increasing the number of chemical species also increases significantly the computational demands for transport calculations [18]. A complete, explicit, gas-phase chemical mechanism in Eulerian regional air quality models is not practical with present computer technology. Therefore chemical mechanisms must be condensed to limit the size of the mechanism to no more than a few hundred reactions and near one hundred model chemical species [19]. Classes of simplified chemical mechanisms for air quality modeling include surrogate mechanisms and aggregated mechanisms as discussed in the next sections.

A surrogate mechanism is a mechanism that is somewhere between explicit and aggregated mechanisms. A surrogate mechanism uses the explicit chemistry of a few selected organic species to represent the atmospheric chemistry of all volatile organic compounds (VOC). One of the earliest was the Empirical Kinetics Modeling Approach (EKMA) developed by Dimitriades and Dodge [20]. The EKMA mechanism represented atmospheric organic chemistry with butane and propene as surrogate species. The combination of a less reactive alkane and a more reactive alkene allowed representation of a wide range of the overall reactivity of a mixture of VOCs.

The EKMA mechanism was implemented in a box model for most applications. The model was used to simulate the air quality of a particular site. An estimate of an appropriate mixture of butane and propene was determined from the site’s emissions inventory. Then the box model was used to make a series of simulations with various initial concentrations and/or emissions of NO_x and VOC. Maximum O₃ concentrations were plotted as contour diagrams as functions of the initial NO_x and VOC concentrations; these diagrams are known as an ozone isopleths. The EKMA ozone isopleths were used for developing air quality control strategies and ozone isopleths calculated by more rigorous methods. Figure 1 shows a sample ozone isopleth generated with the RADM2 (Regional Acid Deposition Mechanism, version 2) mechanism [21]. For example, the figure shows that when NO_x concentrations are below 50 ppb (ppbN) that further reductions in NO_x would not be effective in reducing the O₃ concentration. However at this level of NO_x the O₃ concentrations are very sensitive to the VOC concentration. The figure also shows that for greater NO_x concentrations that reductions in either the initial NO_x or VOC concentration may lead to less O₃.

Aggregated mechanisms use model species to represent the reactions of entire classes of organic compounds. One major method used for chemical aggregation is to aggregate by chemical moiety. The early Carbon Bond Mechanism was an extremely innovative approach to the atmospheric organic chemistry of the polluted urban atmosphere [22,23]. Carbon Bond is a mechanism that aggregates organic compounds into model species according to constituent molecular groups. In the Carbon Bond Mechanism the model species represent the concentrations of constituent groups regardless of the molecule to which they are attached. For example, the Carbon Bond mechanism included model species such as PAR (alkane carbon atoms), OLE (double bonded carbon atoms), ARO (aromatic rings) and CAR (carbonyl group). Suppose there was a mixture of 1.0 ppmV of butane (CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₃) and 1.0 ppmV of propene (CH₃HC=CH₂). These chemical species would be grouped as 4.0 ppmC PAR from the butane and additional 1.0 ppmC PAR and 1.0 ppmC OLE from the propene for a total of 5.0 ppmC PAR and 1.0 ppmC of OLE. A key advantage of the original Carbon Bond approach was its relative ease in grouping emissions into species, the conservation of carbon atoms and the relatively low number of chemical species required to represent organic chemistry.

The lower number of species and its relatively small size resulted in reduced the computational resources needed to run models with the mechanism. The original Carbon Bond approach has declined as the mechanism has been developed and the approach is increasingly the same as an aggregated molecule mechanism because constituent groups on the same molecule and the total molecular weight strongly affect atmospheric chemistry [24,25]. However it is surprising that relatively minor modifications to recent versions of the Carbon Bond Mechanism allow it to estimate secondary organic aerosol concentrations that are very similar to those of more complex mechanisms [26].

A more obvious method of aggregating chemical species into model species is aggregation by molecule. Moles of similar chemical compounds are aggregated into a grouped model species. For example, the model species “ALD” might represent all aldehydes while “PRO” might represent propane and all less reactive alkanes according to an aggregation by molecule approach. In some schemes weighting factors to account for chemical reactivity or carbon mass may be applied in the aggregation scheme (e.g., [27]). The series of mechanisms produced by the Statewide Air Pollution Research Center (SAPRC) at the University of California, Riverside, is an important example of aggregated chemical mechanisms. This series of mechanisms includes SAPRC-90, SAPRC-99 and SAPRC-07 air quality mechanisms [28,29,30]. Versions of SAPRC can represent about 400 categories of VOCs while condensed versions with less complexity in the VOC chemistry has been created for urban and regional air quality models. SAPRC was originally designed for the treatment of highly polluted urban atmospheres and it has evolved to treat regional chemistry as well.

Some mechanisms were developed originally for regional applications and therefore needed to account for a wider range of pollutant concentrations. Regional mechanisms are designed to provide predictions for urban regions and for the regional scale. The regional scale includes locations where NO_x concentrations are lower and where the reactivity of more slowly reacting organic compounds is more important than in urban areas. One widely used example is the Regional Atmospheric Chemical Mechanism, version 1 (RACM1), the Regional Atmospheric Chemical Mechanism, version 2 (RACM2) and their predecessors aggregate organic compounds by molecule [21,27,31,32]. RACM2 currently has a total of 118 model chemical species with a total of 356 reactions.

Simulations were made to illustrate important chemical processes relevant to air quality in this study. They were performed using a box modeling system described previously with the RACM2 mechanism [31,33]. All simulations were made with gas-phase chemistry for clear sky and constant meteorological conditions. Physical loss processes, such as deposition, were not included. The first set included simulations of simple mixtures without emissions. A second set of simulations were made for a polluted urban case was simulated that included emissions.

The rate of photolysis of O₃ and any other compound is the product of the compound’s concentration and the reaction’s photolysis frequency, J. The photolysis frequency is the integral of the product of the wavelength dependent, λ, spherically integrated actinic flux, I(λ), the absorption cross-section, σ(λ), and the quantum yield, φ(λ), (probability that molecule will react after absorbing a photon of wavelength λ), Equation 1.

(1)

The photolysis rate coefficients for the photochemical reactions were calculated using the delta-Eddington radiative transfer model [34]. The RACM2 mechanism includes 33 photolysis reactions. The absorption cross-sections and quantum yields have been revised to be consistent with recent recommendations [7,8]. Aldehydes that have photolysis reactions included in RACM2 are formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, a higher aldehyde, unsaturated aldehyde (formed from aromatic oxidation) and benzaldehyde. Two photolysis reactions are included for peroxyacetyl nitrate. The ketones with photolysis reactions in RACM2 are acetone, methethylketone, methylvinylketone and a higher ketone. The product yields glyoxal, methyl glyoxal and higher dicarbonyl species have been revised for RACM2 based on the recent data.

All simulations discussed below were made for the surface level with the conditions given in Table 1. Simulations were performed for an O₃ only system, with variations upon the addition of NO_x, and VOCs. Specific cases included adjusting the VOC to NO_x ratio by doubling and halving ethene concentrations, Table 2. Simulations were made with the RACM2 mechanism with initial conditions and emissions for a polluted urban atmosphere, Table 1 and Table 3. Note that in Table 3 for temperatures of 298 K and pressures of 1 atmosphere, “Slow Alkanes” in RACM2 are defined to have HO^• rate constants less than 3.4 × 10⁻¹² cm³ s⁻¹, “Medium Alkanes” have HO^• rate constants between 3.4 × 10⁻¹² and 6.8 × 10⁻¹² cm³ s⁻¹and “Fast Alkanes” have HO^• rate constants greater than 6.8 × 10⁻¹² cm³ s⁻¹. “Internal Alkenes” have double bond in an internal position and “Terminal Alkenes” have a double bond in the terminal position.

These simulations were repeated for a range of temperatures 296, 298 and 300 and these are discussed in section “3.8. The Effect of Temperature on Ozone Formation”.

Ozone is a constituent of the natural troposphere due primarily to its production in the stratosphere [35]. A fraction of stratospheric O₃ passes to the troposphere (transported by folding events, for example). Some of the O₃ is lost through photochemistry and other reactions and it is deposited to the Earth’s surface. Excited oxygen atoms, O(¹D), are produced by the photolysis of O₃.

O₃ + hυ → O(¹D) + O₂ (2)

The majority of the O(¹D) are quenched to yield ground state oxygen atoms (O(³P)).

O(¹D) + N₂ → O(³P) + N₂ (3)

O(¹D) + O₂ → O(³P) + O₂ (4)

The O(³P) react with oxygen molecules to form O₃, Reaction 5.

O(³P) + O₂ + M → O₃ + M (5)

In Reaction 5, M represents molecular nitrogen, oxygen or other gaseous species that transfers excess energy from the transition state to stabilize the potential O₃ molecule. Almost all of the O(³P) in the troposphere react with oxygen molecules (except in highly polluted emission plumes) because Reaction 5 is very fast in the troposphere due to its high oxygen concentrations and high pressure.

Although most of the O(¹D) are quenched to reform O(³P) a fraction of the O(¹D) react with water vapor to form HO^•. The HO^• radical is the most important oxidant found in the troposphere.

O(¹D) + H₂O → 2HO^• (6)

The effects of these reactions are illustrated by a simulation of a mixture of O₃ in background air without NO_x or reactive VOC. In the simulation O₃ is photolyzed during the daytime to produce O(¹D), Figure 2. Note the extremely low mixing ratios of the O(¹D).

The mixing ratio of the O(¹D) follows the solar zenith angle with the peak mixing ratio occurring at the local solar noon due to its photochemical production. The HO^• reacts rapidly with O₃ to produce HO₂^•, Figure 3.

HO^• + O₃ → HO₂^• + O₂ (7)

The net effect of the photolysis of O₃ and its reactions with HO^• and HO₂^• is to reduce O₃ mixing ratios on the second day, Figure 4. On the second day the lower mixing ratios of O₃ reduce the formation rate of O(¹D) from photolysis and therefore the O(¹D) mixing ratios are lower, Figure 2. The lower second day O(¹D) mixing ratios reduce the mixing ratios of the HO^• radical, Figure 3. The HO₂^• mixing ratios are lower on the second day but the relative reduction is not as great for HO₂^• as it is for O(¹D) and HO^•.

The photolysis of NO₂ is the major source of O(³P). These react to produce tropospheric O₃ through Reaction 5.

NO₂ + hν → NO + O(³P) (8)

Reaction 9 is a major sink reaction for O₃ and NO.

O₃ + NO → NO₂ + O₂ (9)

Reactions 8 and 9 play a major role in controlling tropospheric O₃ concentrations. As stated above, Reaction 5 is very fast in the troposphere so all of the O(³P) produced by NO₂ photolysis can be assumed to react to produce O₃. If Reactions 8 and 9 are in equilibrium then the O₃ concentration is given by the O₃ photostationary state approximation (PSSA), Equation 10 [36].

(10)

The brackets indicate chemical concentrations for the respective species, J_NO2 is the solar radiation dependant photolysis frequency of Reaction 8 and k is the rate constant of Reaction 9. The value of J_NO2 depends on the intensity of solar radiation and for this reason J_NO2 follows the solar diurnal cycle. According to t34he PSSA the O₃ concentration follows the solar diurnal cycle if there is no carbon monoxide or reactive organic compounds present, Figure 5.

Real tropospheric O₃ production occurs when additional reactions involving CO, VOC, nitrogen oxides, HO^•, HO₂^• and organic peroxy radicals (RO₂^• and RCO₃^•), increase the NO₂ to NO concentration ratio [3,36]. The reaction of HO^• radicals with CO and VOC produce peroxy radicals that convert NO to NO₂. Reaction 11 illustrates the formation of the hydroperoxy radical.

HO^• + CO (+ O₂) → HO₂^• + CO₂ (11)

The formation of the hydroperoxy radical provides a key pathway to the “extra” conversions of NO to NO₂ that are needed for O₃ production.

HO₂^• + NO → HO^• + NO₂ (12)

There are many VOC compounds that are important for atmospheric chemistry [3,35]. For example, alkanes are hydrocarbons (containing only hydrogen and carbon atoms) and the atoms are bonded together with only single bonds. Methane (CH₄) is the simplest example of an alkane. Other examples include ethane (CH₃CH₃), propane (CH₃CH₂CH₃), n-butane (CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₃) and tertiary-butane (CH₃)₃CH. The hydrogen atoms on the CH₃, CH₂ and CH groups are called primary, secondary and tertiary hydrogen atoms, respectively.

Alkanes react with HO^• through abstraction of a hydrogen atom, leading to the production of hydroperoxy radicals and organic peroxy radicals [3]. Methane reacts with HO^• and it abstracts a hydrogen atom to form a methyl radical and water.

HO^• + CH₄ → CH₃^• + H₂O (13)

The methyl radical rapidly reacts with oxygen to produce a methyl peroxy radical.

CH₃^• + O₂ → CH₃O₂^• (14)

The methyl peroxy radical reacts with NO to convert it to NO₂.

CH₃O₂^• + NO → CH₃O^• + NO₂ (15)

The methoxy radical CH₃O^•, reacts with oxygen to form formaldehyde and a hydroperoxy radical.

CH₃O^• + O₂ → CH₂O + HO₂^• (16)

The HO₂^• radical reacts with NO to make one more NO to NO₂ conversion through Reaction 12. The net effect of the initial reaction of the HO^• radical with an alkane is to produce several NO to NO₂ conversions and these conversions increase the [NO₂]/[NO] ratio by Equation 10, and so the concentration of O₃ increases.

For alkanes with more complicated structures HO^• may abstract any of an alkane’s hydrogen atoms but both reactivity differences between the different kinds of hydrogen atoms and the number of the kinds of hydrogen atoms affect the quantity of the different possible products. For alkanes, tertiary hydrogen atoms are more reactive than secondary and secondary hydrogen atoms are more reactive than primary hydrogen atoms. Reactions 17 and 18 illustrate the two possible channels for the reaction of n-butane with HO^•.

Primary Hydrogen Abstraction

CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₃ + HO^• → CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂^• + H₂O (17)

Secondary Hydrogen Abstraction

CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₃ + HO^• → CH₃(C^•H)CH₂CH₃ + H₂O (18)

The two different radicals react with molecular oxygen to produce a primary organic peroxy radical, Reaction 19 and a secondary organic peroxy radical, Reaction 20.

CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂^• + O₂ → CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂O₂^• (19)

CH₃(C^•H)CH₂CH₃ + O₂ → CH₃CHO₂^•CH₂CH₃ (20)

The primary organic peroxy radical reacts with NO to produce a primary alkoxy radical that reacts with oxygen to yield n-butanal, CH₃CH₂CH₂CHO and a HO₂^• radical.

CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂O₂^• + NO → CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂O^• + NO₂ (21)

CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂O^• + O₂ → CH₃CH₂CH₂CHO + HO₂^• (22)

The secondary organic peroxy radical reacts with NO to produce a secondary alkoxy radical that reacts with oxygen to yield methyl ethyl ketone, CH₃(CO)CH₂CH₃ and a HO₂^• radical.

CH₃(CHO₂^•)CH₂CH₃ + NO → CH₃(CHO^•)CH₂CH₃ + NO₂ (23)

CH₃(CHO^•)CH₂CH₃ + O₂ → CH₃(CO)CH₂CH₃ + HO₂^• (24)

Alkenes are hydrocarbons with at least one double bond. Alkenes lead to greater O₃ production than alkanes because of their higher rate constant for the reaction with HO^•. Ethene, CH₂=CH₂, is the simplest example of an alkene while propene, CH₃CH=CH₂, is the next higher compound in the series. An alkene’s rate constant for its reactions with HO^•, O₃ and the resulting reaction products, depends very strongly on the location and number of double bonds in the alkene. For example, butene may have the double bond located at the end of the molecule, CH₂=CHCH₂CH₃ (1-butene), or within the molecule, CH₃CH=CHCH₃ (2-butene). In this case the rate constant for the reaction of HO^• with 2-butene is greater than its reaction with 1-butene.

In contrast to alkanes, the HO^• reacts with alkenes through addition to either carbon atom of the double bond. For example, propene adds HO^• to produce a radical that adds an oxygen molecule to form a peroxy radical (CH₃(HCOH)CH₂O₂^•), Reactions 25 and 26.

CH₃HC=CH₂ + HO^• → CH₃(HCOH)CH₂^• (25)

CH₃(HCOH)CH₂^• + O₂ → CH₃(HCOH)CH₂O₂^• (26)

The CH₃(HCOH)CH₂O₂^• radical reacts with NO to produce NO₂ and a hydroxy-carbonyl compound, Reactions 27 and 28.

CH₃(HCOH)CH₂O₂^• + NO → CH₃(HCOH)CH₂O^• + NO₂ (27)

CH₃(HCOH)CH₂O^• + O₂ → CH₃(HCOH)CHO + HO₂^• (28)

The net effect is to convert NO to NO₂ and this produces more O₃ as discussed above.

The reaction of alkenes with O₃ forms many products including carbonyl compounds and HO^• [4,37,38,39]. The reactions of alkenes with O₃ are a small but dominant nighttime source of HO^•. For example, the O₃ molecule inserts itself across the double bond of propene, Reaction 29.

CH₃CH=CH₂ + O₃ → CH₃CH^OOOCH₂ (29)

The CH₃CH₂^OOOCH₂product fragments through two different reactions to make acetaldehyde, formaldehyde, CH₂O, and excited Criegee radicals, [^•CH₂OO^•]^≠ and [CH₃^•CHOO^•]^≠.

CH₃CH^OOOCH₂ → CH₃CHO + [^•CH₂OO^•]^≠ (30)

CH₃CH^OOOCH₂ → CH₂O + [CH₃^•CHOO^•]^≠ (31)

The excited Criegee radicals produce a wide variety of products, with one of the reactions producing HO^• radicals [37].

[^•CH₂OO^•]^≠ → HCO^• + HO^• (32)

The effect of reactive organic compounds on O₃ formation is illustrated by three of simulations that initially contained O₃, ethene and NO₂. The VOC/NO_x ratios were 4, 8 and 16 ppbC/ppbN. The production of ozone for the chosen initial concentration of NO₂ was VOC limited because the ozone mixing ratio increased with increasing initial concentrations of ethene, Figure 6.

Figure 6 shows that for these cases O₃ was formed rapidly on the first day but on the second day the air was aged and there was a small loss of O₃. Notice that the rate of O₃ formation during the morning of the first day depends on the VOC/NO_x ratio. The mixture with a VOC/NO_x ratio of 16 ppbC/ppbN forms O₃ between 8:00 and 10:00 at a rate of 9.2 ppb h⁻¹ while for VOC/NO_x ratios of 8 and 4 ppbC/PPbN the rates are 6.7 and 3.7 ppb h⁻¹, respectively. The presence of ethene leads to the production of organic peroxy radicals (CH₂OH-CH₂O₂^•, in this case), Figure 7 and HO₂^• radicals, Figure 8. Greater VOC/NO_x ratios lead to higher mixing ratios of peroxy radicals, CH₂OH-CH₂O₂ (in this case), and increased production of O₃ due to more rapid conversion of NO to NO₂.

The formation of O₃ occurs as a deviation from the PSSA, Equation 10. Equation 10 can be rearranged to give Equation 33.

(33)

If a simulated atmosphere obeyed the PSSA, the left hand and right hand sides of Equation 33 would be equal. Since J_NO2/k, time dependent ratio of the photolysis frequency of NO₂ to the rate constant for the O₃ + NO reaction, is fixed for a given set of conditions it can be used as a basis for comparison with the ratio, [O₃] × [NO]/[NO₂].These are plotted on Figure 9 for the three simulated ethene cases.

Figure 9 shows that the greater the initial mixing ratios of ethene the greater the deviation from the PSSA. Comparison of Figure 6 and Figure 9 show that the greater the deviation from the PSSA the greater the formation. This result is in accord with the higher mixing ratios of peroxy radicals that are associated with higher VOC/NO_x ratios. Increased peroxy radical concentrations provide faster conversion of NO to NO₂. This increases the production rate of O₃ by the increasing the NO₂ photolysis rate. The conversion of NO to NO₂ reduces the O₃ loss rate by reducing the rate of the O₃ reaction with NO. Increasing the O₃ production rate and decreasing its destruction rate at the same time has the net effect of increasing O₃ mixing ratios. The greater the O₃ production the greater the deviation from [O₃] × [NO]/[NO₂] for these reasons [36].

HO₂^• and HO^• radicals are in equilibrium and the partitioning between the concentrations of these two radicals depends on the NO concentration. In this case higher mixing ratios of HO₂^• are associated with lower mixing ratios of HO^•, Figure 8 and Figure 10.

Aromatic compounds are the third type of hydrocarbon that is important for air pollution, and is the subject of ongoing research. The oxidation mechanism of aromatic compounds leads to the production of peroxy radicals and high molecular weight compounds that may condense to produce secondary organic aerosols. The chemistry of oxidation of aromatic compounds is very complicated and there are too many compounds and reactions to include in a mechanism to be routinely used for air quality modeling. There are at least several hundred reactions and products for a parent aromatic compound [40]. The chemistry of a reaction of the HO^• radical with an organic substituent attached to an aromatic ring is the easiest to describe. However, only about 10% of the hydroxy radicals abstract hydrogen atoms from an alkyl group, attached to an aromatic ring. In this case the chemical mechanism will be that of the substituent group. For example, when HO^• reacts with the methyl group of toluene, the subsequent chemistry is similar to alkanes. A hydrogen atom is abstracted and an oxygen molecule adds to the CH₂^• radical on the aromatic ring to make peroxy radical. The peroxy radical may react with NO to produce benzaldehyde.

The addition of HO^• to an aromatic ring is the dominant aromatic reaction [40]. The subsequent reactions that follow this addition reaction may lead to either the breaking of the aromatic ring or ring-retaining products. In the case of the simplest aromatic compound, benzene, phenol is a ring-retaining product that is produced in high yield. Bloss et al. [41] supports a phenol yield of 0.52 while Berndt and Böge [42] determined the yield of phenol to be 0.61 ± 0.07 in the presence and absence of NO_x.

A very large number of highly reactive compounds result when the ring breaks. The reactive compounds include a large number of dicarbonyl compounds that contain two carbonyl groups (C=O), are produced. These dicarbonyl compounds have a complicated and relatively unknown chemistry. Studies regarding the ring-opening products of the HO^•-benzene reaction are sparse. The main aspects of their formation are uncertain due to lack of good experimental techniques for their quantification, a lack of commercially available standards, and their high reactivity.

For example, Gomez Alvarez et al. [43] confirmed the existence of dicarbonyl production and they found that the yields of dicarbonyls could be high. Fast ring-cleavage was observed, due to a peak in observed γ-dicarbonyls shortly after the chamber was opened to sunlight. Also, high yields of dicarbonyls (e.g., glyoxal) imply a high formation rate of HO^• into the system. They found that yields of glyoxal with values of 42 ± 3% and 36 ± 2% in two successive experiments. To be able to investigate the existence of higher molecular weight dicarbonyl compounds they had to synthesize cis- and trans-butenedial for calibration purposes. For one experiment they found total butenedial yields of 17 ± 9% with a breakdown of 8 ± 4% cis-butenedial and 9 ± 5% trans-butenedial. For a second experiment they found total butenedial yields of 15 ± 6%; the breakdown was 7 ± 3% and 7 ± 3% for the cis and trans isomers, respectively.

Aldehydes and ketones contain a carbonyl group, C=O. As presented above, aldehydes and ketones are oxidation products of VOC and many have biogenic and anthropogenic emission sources [9,35]. Formaldehyde is the simplest aldehyde. Higher molecular weight aldehydes follow the template RCHO; they have one hydrogen atom attached to the carbonyl and another organic functional group attached to it. Acetone, CH₃(CO)CH₃ is the simplest ketone. Higher molecular weight ketones follow the template R₁(CO)R₂; they have two organic functional groups attached to the carbonyl and these groups maybe the same or different.

Aldehydes and ketones react with HO^• by abstraction of a hydrogen atom. The overall scheme has some similarity to the alkane oxidation scheme with some exceptions. Reaction 34 shows formaldehyde as an example of one exception.

CH₂O + HO^• → CHO^• + H₂O (34)

The carbonyl radical, CHO^•, does not add to oxygen to produce a peroxy radical but rather, it reacts with oxygen to produce the HO₂^• radical.

CHO^• + O₂ → CO + HO₂^• (35)

The carbonyl group is a strong chromophore for ultraviolet radiation. The absorption of ultraviolet radiation causes photo-dissociation of these compounds and some of the reaction channels lead to the production of radicals. For example, formaldehyde has two photolysis reactions that occur in the lower troposphere. Reaction 36 yields molecular products while Reaction 37 yields radical products.

CH₂O + hν → H₂ + CO (36)

CH₂O + hν → H^• + CHO^• (37)

The net effect of Reaction 37 is to produce two HO₂^• radicals because the CHO^• reacts according to Reaction 35 and the hydrogen atom reacts with oxygen to produce another HO₂^•.

H^• + O₂ → HO₂^• (38)

Under highly polluted urban conditions the photolysis of formaldehyde can be a source of HO_x radicals that is as important as O₃.

Acetaldehyde, CH₃CHO, is the next higher molecular weight aldehyde. It reacts in the polluted atmosphere to produce peroxyacetyl nitrate, CH₃(CO)O₂NO₂, (PAN) [3]. PAN is an important compound because it serves as a reservoir of acetyl radicals and NO₂ and it is a strong lachrymator. The mechanism of PAN formation begins with HO^• abstracting the hydrogen atom that is attached to the carbonyl group in acetaldehyde. The addition of oxygen to the resulting CH₃CO^• radical produces the acetyl peroxy radical.

CH₃CHO + HO^• → CH₃CO^• + H₂O (39)

CH₃CO^• + O₂ → CH₃(CO)O₂^• (40)

CH₃(CO)O₂^• + NO₂ → CH₃(CO)O₂NO₂ (41)

PAN decomposes thermally to reproduce acetyl peroxy radicals and NO₂.

CH₃(CO)O₂NO₂ → CH₃(CO)O₂ + NO₂ (42)

PAN is in equilibrium with NO₂ and the CH₃(CO)O₂ radical at temperatures near 25 °C. PAN is much more stable at lower temperatures and the lifetime of PAN becomes longer. PAN can be transported over long distances in the upper troposphere where the temperatures are colder and its photolysis becomes important. The photolysis of PAN proceeds by two pathways. The faster pathway forms the acetyl peroxy radical and NO₂. The slower photolysis route involves the destruction of PAN by the formation of the methyl peroxy radical, CO₂ and NO₃. Higher molecular weight aldehydes form acyl peroxy radicals that may react to produce higher homologs of PAN [3,44].

The nitrate radical, NO₃^•, is the nighttime analog of the hydroxyl radical and it is produced by the reaction of O₃ with NO₂.

O₃ + NO₂ → O₂ + NO₃^• (43)

Daytime concentrations of NO₃^• are low due to its rapid photolysis reactions with photolysis frequencies that are several times greater than NO₂. There are two photolysis reactions.

NO₃^• + hν → O₂ + NO (44)

NO₃^• + hν → O(³P) + NO₂ (45)

The NO₃^• radical becomes much more important at night when its concentration increases, Figure 11.

The NO₃^• reacts with NO₂ to produce dinitrogen pentoxide, N₂O_5, but this is not a stable compound and it is in equilibrium with NO₃^• and NO₂.

NO₃^• + NO₂ → N₂O₅ (46)

N₂O₅ → NO₃^• + NO₂ (47)

What makes N₂O₅ significant is that it can react with water on aerosol and other surfaces to produce nitric acid, HNO₃. This nighttime loss of reactive nitrogen may reduce the formation of O₃ on subsequent days during the summer season.

The NO₃^• radical reacts with many organic compounds [45]. Alkanes and aromatic compounds react slowly with NO₃^• but the radical reacts rapidly with alkenes by addition. Possibly the most important organic reaction is the reaction of NO₃^• with aldehydes because it is a strong source of nighttime peroxy radicals [46,47]. For example, formaldehyde and NO₃^• react to produce HNO₃ and CHO^• radicals. The reaction proceeds through the abstraction of a hydrogen attached to the carbonyl group.

NO₃^• + CH₂O → HNO₃ + CHO^• (48)

The CHO^• radical reacts immediately with molecular oxygen to produce HO₂^• radicals as discussed above, Reaction 35. The reaction of NO₃^• with acetaldehyde can lead to the formation of PAN. The hydrogen attached to the carbonyl group is abstracted and then Reaction 49 is followed by Reactions 40 and 41 to produce PAN [47].

NO₃^• + CH₃CHO → HNO₃ + CH₃CO^• (49)

The reaction of NO₃^• with alkenes is similar to HO^•; it reacts by addition but this process is more prevalent during the nighttime due to the typical higher concentrations of NO₃^•. The NO₃^• participates in radical termination reactions too and these are discussed below.

Tropospheric chemistry involves many chain reactions as discussed above. At some point the chain reactions must terminate. The reaction of HO^• with NO₂ to the form HNO₃, Reaction 50, and the self-reaction of HO₂^• to form hydrogen peroxide, Reaction 51 are among the most important.

HO^• + NO₂ → HNO₃ (50)

HO₂^• + HO₂^• (+H₂O, M) → H₂O₂ + O₂ (51)

Note that the overall rate parameter for the self-reaction of HO₂^• depends on atmospheric pressure and the water vapor concentration [48]. Figure 12 shows the formation of HNO₃ for the ethene cases where NO is relatively high.

Figure 12 shows that the mixing ratios of HNO₃ decrease as the VOC/NO_x ratio increases for the ethene simulations. This is consistent with the decrease in the mixing ratio of HO^• shown in Figure 10. The reaction of HO^• with NO₂ is more important for urban conditions where NO concentrations are high while the self-reaction of HO₂^• is more important for rural and remote conditions where NO concentrations are low. Figure 13 shows hydrogen peroxide formation for the ethene cases.

Figure 13 shows a typical trend with the mixing ratio of H₂O₂ depending on the VOC to NO_x ratio. Higher VOC concentrations relative to the NO concentration lead to the production of greater concentrations of HO₂^•. Higher concentrations of HO₂^• result in greater amounts of termination through the HO₂^• self reaction, Reaction 51, producing more H₂O₂.

Some termination of the radical chains occurs through the reactions of HO₂^• with other peroxy radicals at low NO concentrations. These reactions typically lead to the production of organic hydrogen peroxides. For example the methylperoxy radical reacts with the HO₂^• radical to produce methyl hydrogen peroxide, CH₃OOH.

CH₃O₂^• + HO₂^• → CH₃OOH + O₂ (52)

The reactions of organic peroxy radicals are more complicated. For many organic peroxy radicals there are two reactions that occur. The first is the disproportion reaction that yields oxygen and alkoxy radicals.

CH₃O₂^• + CH₃O₂^• → 2 CH₃O^• + O₂ (53)

The second type of organic peroxy radicals-radical reaction is the transfer of a hydrogen atom from a carbon atom that is adjacent to the peroxy oxygen atoms. The hydrogen atom is transferred to the oxygen atom that is adjacent to the other carbonyl group. For example, in the case of the self-reaction of the methylperoxy radical, formaldehyde and methanol are produced.

CH₃O₂^• + CH₃O₂^• → CH₃OH + CH₂O + O₂ (54)

In the case of two different organic peroxy radicals there is the disproportion reaction and the transfer of the hydrogen atom that can go in both directions.

CH₃O₂^• + CH₃CH₂O₂^• → CH₃O + CH₃CH₂O + O₂ (55)

CH₃O₂^• + CH₃CH₂O₂^• → CH₃OH + CH₃CHO + O₂ (56)

CH₃O₂^• + CH₃CH₂O₂^• → CH₂O + CH₃CH₂OH + O₂ (57)

The transfer of a hydrogen atom can only go in one direction in the case of acyl organic peroxy radicals. For acyl organic peroxy radicals there is no adjacent hydrogen atom on the carbon atom adjacent to the peroxy oxygen atoms [49]. For example the reaction of the methylperoxy radical with the acetyl peroxy radical there are two major reactions.

CH₃O₂^• + CH₃CO₃^• → CH₃O^• + CH₃CO₂^• + O₂ (58)

CH₃O₂^• + CH₃CO₃^• → CH₂O + CH₃COOH + O₂ (59)

The CH₃CO₂^• reacts with molecular oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and the methyl peroxy radical.

CH₃CO₂^• + O₂ → CH₃O₂ + CO₂ (60)

Figure 14 shows the formation of organic peroxides from the reaction of methyl peroxy radical with organic peroxy radicals to form peroxides of the form CH₃OOR.

The reactions of organic peroxy radicals with NO₃ radical may be highly important but there is relatively little data available as they are difficult to study in the laboratory. Organic peroxy radicals are expected to react with NO₃^• as shown in Reaction 61 [50].

RO₂^• + NO₃ → RO^• + NO₂ + O₂ (61)

But the reaction is not chain terminating because the RO will react to produce additional radicals.

Another reaction that is not chain terminating is the reaction of HO^• with SO₂, in contrast to its reaction with NO₂. The reaction of HO^• with SO₂ is an important source of sulfate and acid deposition but it does not greatly affect the atmospheric HO_x concentration. The reaction follows the following mechanism [51].

HO^• + SO₂ → HOSO₂^• + O₂ (62)

HOSO₂^• + O₂ → SO₃^• + HO₂^• (63)

SO₃^• + H₂O → H₂SO₄ (64)

The purpose of this section is to illustrate the chemistry discussed above and to show how it applies to a more complex mixture that is closer to the real polluted atmosphere. There are important interactions between atmospheric inorganic chemistry and organic chemistry that affect the production of O₃, peroxy radicals, HNO₃ organic peroxides and many other species. These interactions are examined through the simulation of the complex mixture described in Table 2 and Table 3. The simulated case is a relatively realistic mixture of air pollutants with their emissions based on measurements made at Howard University’s atmospheric field site near Beltsville, Maryland.

Figure 15 shows the production of O₃ from NO and NO₂. The mixing ratios of NO and O₃ were initialized to high values for this box model simulation. Under polluted urban conditions NO may accumulate near the surface during the nighttime and during the early morning rush hours. The onset of convection mixes O₃ from aloft to rapidly titrate the NO to produce NO₂. The photolysis of NO₂ produces O₃. This increase in O₃ drives down the NO mixing ratio further during the first few hours of the simulation. Emissions maintain a NO₂ mixing ratio of a few parts per billion for the entire episode. The mixing ratios of O₃ and NO₂ decrease during the nighttime due to the reaction of NO₂ with O₃ to produce NO₃ radical and N₂O₅. Nighttime chemistry converts NO_x to HNO₃, thereby removing reactive nitrogen from the atmosphere.

Figure 16 shows that after sunset the mixing ratios of N₂O₅ and NO₃ increase rapidly. Later during the night the NO₃ mixing ratios decrease due to the loss of NO₃ through titration by NO emissions and, to a lesser extent, through the reactions of NO₃ with aldehydes and alkenes. In addition N₂O₅ reacts with liquid water on aerosol and other surfaces although not included in this gas-phase simulation.

The time dependent profiles for the HO^• are more complicated than those in Figure 10. The HO^• mixing ratios are much lower during the nighttime but they do not fall to zero due to their production from the reaction of O₃ with alkenes. Another feature is that on the first day there is a double peak due to changes between the major sources and sinks of HO^•. One change in the HO^• sink is due to a severe drop in the initial mixing ratios of biogenically emitted alkenes.

The major daytime sources of HO^• are the photolysis of formaldehyde and O₃, Figure 17 and Figure 18. Figure 17 shows the production rates and Figure 18 shows the relative production rates. In these figures the formaldehyde HO^• production rate was calculated by multiplying production rate of HO₂^• from formaldehyde photolysis by the fraction of HO₂^• radicals that react with NO.

Formaldehyde photolysis is the more important source during the early morning and late afternoon hours. The time dependent profile of the formaldehyde photolysis source is skewed toward the morning hours while the time dependent profile of the O₃ photolysis source mirrors the O₃ photolysis rate constant. However, when these two HO^• sources are examined on a percentage basis the profiles appear to be much more symmetrical, Figure 18.

Reaction of HO^• is almost equally divided between inorganic and organic species, Table 4. A very large fraction of HO^• reacts with CO. For VOC, the reaction of HO^• with aldehydes and other products of hydrocarbon oxidation were the second most important class of hydroxyl radical reactions while the reaction of HO^• with the hydrocarbons was the third.

Different classes of VOC contribute differently to the loss of HO^•, Figure 19. Figure 19 shows the relative fraction of HO^• that react with each class of VOC at noon on the second simulated day. By the second day aldehydes and ketones are the most important organic sink of HO^•. They are among the first generation of oxidation products and highly reactive with respect to HO^•.

The mixing ratios for the organic peroxy radicals produced from the oxidation of VOC are shown in Figure 20. In this case the peroxy radicals produced from alkenes was very high initially but their production dropped relatively quickly. For most of the simulation the peroxy radicals produced from alkanes, methyl peroxy radical (CH₃O₂) and acyl peroxy radicals (RCO₃) had the highest mixing ratios.

The mixing ratios of HO₂^• radicals and the total mixing ratios of the organic peroxy radicals are shown in Figure 21. Both profiles peak near noon with the HO₂^• radicals having the highest daytime mixing ratios while the total mixing ratio of the organic peroxy radicals having the highest nighttime value. The high nighttime organic peroxy radical mixing ratios are produced through the reactions of O₃ and NO₃ with aldehydes and alkenes.

The initial atmosphere was assumed to be NO₂ and NO, Figure 22. These were rapidly converted to a mixture that also included organic nitrates, peroxyactyl nitrates and HNO₃.

Organic nitrates are produced from the reaction of organic peroxy radicals with NO, Reaction 65.

RO₂^• + NO → RNO₃ (65)

The yield of organic nitrates tends to increase for higher molecular weight organic peroxy radicals [45]. The peroxyactyl nitrates were produced from the reaction of acetyl peroxy radicals with NO₂. There is strong production of HNO₃ during the day and nighttime. However the HNO₃ production rate is somewhat slower at sunrise and sunset due to the lower concentrations of HO^• or NO₃ radicals during these times. The figure shows that over the long term of the simulation that nitrogen oxide emissions are converted to HNO₃ and organic nitrates.

In summary of this section, the polluted urban atmosphere simulation showed that there is a complex interplay between the daytime and nighttime chemistry induced by the HO^• and NO₃ radicals, respectively. Both of these radicals react to convert NO_x to HNO₃ while oxidizing organic compounds. The nighttime reactions of O₃ and NO₃ with aldehydes and alkenes produced HO^•, HO₂^• and organic peroxy radical production during the night.

The loss of NO_x reduces O₃ formation because it is the photolysis of NO₂ that leads to the production of O₃. While the mixture began with NO and NO₂ as the only reactive nitrogen containing species as the air aged these were converted to HNO₃ and organic nitrates. The loss of NO_x was somewhat underestimated in this gas-phase simulation because the heterogeneous conversion of N₂O₅ to HNO₃ was not included. Dry and wet depositions of HNO₃ are very significant sinks for atmospheric nitrogen but these were not included in our simulations. In addition, sulfate, hydrogen peroxide and organic peroxides are removed from the atmosphere through deposition.

The daytime formaldehyde photolysis was a more important source of HO^• radicals than O₃ photolysis during the early morning and late afternoon hours and as the air aged aldehydes and ketones became the most important organic sink of HO^• radicals. The reaction of HO^• with VOC produced organic peroxy radicals, while peroxy radicals with the highest mixing ratios were radicals produced from alkanes, the methyl peroxy radical (CH₃O₂^•) and acyl peroxy radicals (RCO₃^•).

High ozone pollution episodes are associated with stagnant high-pressure systems. Stagnant highs are associated with clear days and strong temperature inversions. These conditions lead to higher photolysis rates, low mixing heights and higher surface temperatures [52]. Higher temperatures increase evaporation rates increasing VOC emissions.

All of these cofactors increase the production of O₃. Greater photolysis rates and increased emissions are likely to have the most significant effects that lead to increases in O₃ production. However the effect of temperature on the rates of chemical reactions is not insignificant. Temperature has a strong effect on the rate constant of most reactions. For example, the Arrhenius Equation, 66, is one of the most important equations that characterize the temperature dependence for many reactions.

(66)

In Equation 66, A is the pre-exponential factor, E_a is the activation energy per mole, R is the ideal gas constant and T is the temperature. For most reactions the activation energy is positive; if E_a is positive than the rate constant of the reaction increases with temperature. The polluted urban case was run for temperatures of 296, 298 and 300 K to explore the effect of temperature in the absence of other factors. Figure 23 shows the maximum O₃ on the first day. For this case the response of the maximum O₃ to temperature is very linear (R² = 0.999) and the slope of the best-fit line for this case is 4.3 ppb K⁻¹.

Increasing temperatures due to climate change are likely to make the abatement of tropospheric O₃ more difficult due to all of these factors.