Gas-phase products and secondary aerosol yields from the ozonolysis of ten different terpenes

Abstract

The ozonolyses of six monoterpenes (α-pinene, β-pinene, 3-carene, terpinolene, α-terpinene, and myrcene), two sesquiterpenes (α-humulene and β-caryophyllene), and two oxygenated terpenes (methyl chavicol and linalool) were conducted individually in Teflon chambers to examine the gas-phase oxidation product and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) yields from these reactions. Particle size distribution and number concentration were monitored and allowed for the calculation of the SOA yield from each experiment, which ranged from 1 to 54%. A proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer (PTR-MS) was used to monitor the evolution of gas-phase products, identified by their mass to charge ratio (m/z). Several gas-phase oxidation products, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, formic acid, acetone, acetic acid, and nopinone, were identified and calibrated. Aerosol yields, and the yields of these identified and calibrated oxidation products, as well as many higher m/z oxidation products observed with the PTR-MS, varied significantly between the different parent terpene compounds. The sum of measured oxidation products in the gas and particle phase ranged from 33 to 77% of the carbon in the reacted terpenes, suggesting there are still unmeasured products from these reactions. The observations of the higher molecular weight oxidation product ions provide evidence of previously unreported compounds and their temporal evolution in the smog chamber from multistep oxidation processes. Many of the observed ions, including m/z 111 and 113, have also been observed in ambient air above a Ponderosa pine forest canopy, and our results confirm they are consistent with products from terpene + O_3 reactions. Many of these products are stable on the timescale of our experiments and can therefore be monitored in field campaigns as evidence for ozone oxidative chemistry.

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