Competing esterification and oligomerization reactions of typical long-chain alcohols to secondary organic aerosol formation

Organosulfate (OSA) nanoparticles,as secondary organic aerosol (SOA) compositions,are ubiquitous in urban and rural environments.Hence,we systemically investigated the mechanisms and kinetics of aqueous-phase reactions of 1-butanol/1-decanol (BOL/DOL) and their roles in the formation of OSA nanoparticles by using quantum chemical and kinetic calculations.The mechanism results show that the aqueous-phase reactions of BOL/DOL start from initial protonation at alcoholic OH^(-)groups to form carbenium ions (CBs),which engage in the subsequent esterification or oligomerization reactions to form OSAs/organosulfites (OSIs) or dimers.The kinetic results reveal that dehydration to form CBs for BOL and DOL reaction systems is the rate-limiting step.Subsequently,about 18%of CBs occur via oligomerization to dimers,which are difficult to further oligomerize because all reactive sites are occupied.The rate constant of BOL reaction system is one order of magnitude larger than that of DOL reaction system,implying that relative short-chain alcohols are more prone to contribute OSAs/OSIs than long-chain alcohols.Our results reveal that typical long-chain alcohols contribute SOA formation via esterification rather than oligomerization because OSA/OSI produced by esterification engages in nanoparticle growth through enhancing hygroscopicity.

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-H2O2mixed 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.