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Campholenic aldehyde ozonolysis: A mechanism leading to specific biogenic secondary organic aerosol constituents
2014, Kahnt, A., Iinuma, Y., Mutzel, A., Böge, O., Claeys, M., Herrmann, H.
In the present study, campholenic aldehyde ozonolysis was performed to investigate pathways leading to specific biogenic secondary organic aerosol (SOA) marker compounds. Campholenic aldehyde, a known α-pinene oxidation product, is suggested to be a key intermediate in the formation of terpenylic acid upon α-pinene ozonolysis. It was reacted with ozone in the presence and absence of an OH radical scavenger, leading to SOA formation with a yield of 0.75 and 0.8, respectively. The resulting oxidation products in the gas and particle phases were investigated employing a denuder/filter sampling combination. Gas-phase oxidation products bearing a carbonyl group, which were collected by the denuder, were derivatised by 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) followed by liquid chromatography/negative ion electrospray ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis and were compared to the gas-phase compounds detected by online proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry. Particle-phase products were also analysed, directly or after DNPH derivatisation, to derive information about specific compounds leading to SOA formation. Among the detected compounds, the aldehydic precursor of terpenylic acid was identified and its presence was confirmed in ambient aerosol samples from the DNPH derivatisation, accurate mass data, and additional mass spectrometry (MS2 and MS3 fragmentation studies). Furthermore, the present investigation sheds light on a reaction pathway leading to the formation of terpenylic acid, involving α-pinene, α-pinene oxide, campholenic aldehyde, and terpenylic aldehyde. Additionally, the formation of diaterpenylic acid acetate could be connected to campholenic aldehyde oxidation. The present study also provides insights into the source of other highly functionalised oxidation products (e.g. m / z 201, C9H14O5 and m / z 215, C10H16O5), which have been observed in ambient aerosol samples and smog chamber-generated monoterpene SOA. The m / z 201 and 215 compounds were tentatively identified as a C9- and C10-carbonyl-dicarboxylic acid, respectively, based on reaction mechanisms of campholenic aldehyde and ozone, as well as detailed interpretation of mass spectral data, in conjunction with the formation of corresponding DNPH derivatives.
Characterisation and optimisation of a sample preparation method for the detection and quantification of atmospherically relevant carbonyl compounds in aqueous medium
2015, Rodigast, M., Mutzel, A., Iinuma, Y., Haferkorn, S., Herrmann, H.
Carbonyl compounds are ubiquitous in the atmosphere and either emitted primarily from anthropogenic and biogenic sources or they are produced secondarily from the oxidation of volatile organic compounds. Despite a number of studies about the quantification of carbonyl compounds a comprehensive description of optimised methods is scarce for the quantification of atmospherically relevant carbonyl compounds. The method optimisation was conducted for seven atmospherically relevant carbonyl compounds including acrolein, benzaldehyde, glyoxal, methyl glyoxal, methacrolein, methyl vinyl ketone and 2,3-butanedione. O-(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzyl)hydroxylamine hydrochloride (PFBHA) was used as derivatisation reagent and the formed oximes were detected by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). With the present method quantification can be carried out for each carbonyl compound originating from fog, cloud and rain or sampled from the gas- and particle phase in water. Detection limits between 0.01 and 0.17 μmol L−1 were found, depending on carbonyl compounds. Furthermore, best results were found for the derivatisation with a PFBHA concentration of 0.43 mg mL−1 for 24 h followed by a subsequent extraction with dichloromethane for 30 min at pH = 1. The optimised method was evaluated in the present study by the OH radical initiated oxidation of 3-methylbutanone in the aqueous phase. Methyl glyoxal and 2,3-butanedione were found to be oxidation products in the samples with a yield of 2% for methyl glyoxal and 14% for 2,3-butanedione after a reaction time of 5 h.