Publication
Title
Organosulfate formation in biogenic secondary organic aerosol
Author
Abstract
Organosulfates of isoprene, á-pinene, and â-pinene have recently been identified in both laboratory-generated and ambient secondary organic aerosol (SOA). In this study, the mechanism and ubiquity of organosulfate formation in biogenic SOA is investigated by a comprehensive series of laboratory photooxidation (i.e., OH-initiated oxidation) and nighttime oxidation (i.e., NO3-initiated oxidation under dark conditions) experiments using nine monoterpenes (á-pinene, â-pinene, d-limonene, l-limonene, á-terpinene, ã-terpinene, terpinolene, Ä3-carene, and â-phellandrene) and three monoterpenes (á-pinene, d-limonene, and l-limonene), respectively. Organosulfates were characterized using liquid chromatographic techniques coupled to electrospray ionization combined with both linear ion trap and high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Organosulfates are formed only when monoterpenes are oxidized in the presence of acidified sulfate seed aerosol, a result consistent with prior work. Archived laboratory-generated isoprene SOA and ambient filter samples collected from the southeastern U.S. were reexamined for organosulfates. By comparing the tandem mass spectrometric and accurate mass measurements collected for both the laboratory-generated and ambient aerosol, previously uncharacterized ambient organic aerosol components are found to be organosulfates of isoprene, á-pinene, â-pinene, and limonene-like monoterpenes (e.g., myrcene), demonstrating the ubiquity of organosulfate formation in ambient SOA. Several of the organosulfates of isoprene and of the monoterpenes characterized in this study are ambient tracer compounds for the occurrence of biogenic SOA formation under acidic conditions. Furthermore, the nighttime oxidation experiments conducted under highly acidic conditions reveal a viable mechanism for the formation of previously identified nitrooxy organosulfates found in ambient nighttime aerosol samples. We estimate that the organosulfate contribution to the total organic mass fraction of ambient aerosol collected from K-puszta, Hungary, a field site with a similar organosulfate composition as that found in the present study for the southeastern U.S., can be as high as 30%.
Language
English
Source (journal)
The journal of physical chemistry : A : molecules, spectroscopy, kinetics, environment and general theory. - Washington, D.C., 1997, currens
Publication
Washington, D.C. : 2008
ISSN
1089-5639 [print]
1520-5215 [online]
DOI
10.1021/JP802310P
Volume/pages
112 :36 (2008) , p. 8345-8378
ISI
000258980700019
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 08.12.2008
Last edited 25.05.2022
To cite this reference