| Nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (nitro-PAH) product distributions from the gas-phase hydroxyl (OH) and nitrate (NO3) radical-initiated reactions with selected PAHs, as well as the heterogeneous reactions of surface-bound PAHs with N2O5 and HNO3, were investigated. Chapter 2 presents formation yields of nitro-PAHs from the gas-phase OH radical-initiated reactions of 1,7- and 2,7-dimethylnaphthalene (DMN) as a function of NO 2 concentration over the range 0.04-0.14 ppmv. The measured formation yields of dimethylnitronaphthalenes (DMNNs) under conditions that the OH-DMN adducts reacted solely with NO2 were 0.252 +/- 0.094% for Sigma1,7-DMNNs and 0.010 +/- 0.005% for Sigma2,7-DMNNs. 1,7-dimethyl-5-nitronaphthalene (1,7DM5NN) was the major nitro-isomer formed, with a limiting high-NO 2 concentration yield of 0.212 +/- 0.080% and with equal reactions of the 1,7-DMN-OH adduct with NO2 and O2 occurring in air at 60 +/- 39 ppbv of NO2, indicating that the OH-DMN adduct reaction with NO2 can be important at NO2 concentrations commonly found in urban atmospheres. Although the yields of the DMNNs are low, ≤0.3%, the DMNN (and ethylnitronaphthalene) profiles from chamber experiments match well with those observed in polluted urban areas under conditions where OH radical-initiated chemistry is dominant, such as Mexico City, Mexico.;Chapter 3 examines the nitro-PAH products of gas-phase OH and NO 3 radicals and heterogeneous N2O5 reactions with fluoranthene, pyrene, benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, and triphenylene. Analysis of nitro-PAHs in the NIST diesel particulate SRM (1975) and selected ambient samples are also presented. 2-Nitrofluoranthene (2-NFL) was the most abundant nitro-PAH in Riverside, CA and Mexico City, and the mw 273 nitro-PAHs were observed in lower concentrations. However, in Tokyo, Japan, concentrations of 1- + 2-nitrotriphenylene (NTP) were more similar to those of 2-NFL. Comparing specific nitro-PAH ratios in ambient particulate samples from Tokyo, Mexico City, and Riverside, and in diesel particles with those from chamber experiments confirms the atmospheric formation of 2-NFL and 2-nitropyrene (2-NPY) via gas-phase radical-initiated reactions.;Heterogeneous nitration of ambient particle-bound PAHs is investigated in Chapter 4. Ambient particulate samples collected in Beijing, China, and from four sites within the Los Angeles air basin (Los Angeles, Azusa, Riverside, and Banning), along with filter-bound deuterated PAHs, were exposed to a gas-phase equilibrium mixture of N2O5, NO3 radicals, and NO2 in an environmental chamber at ambient pressure and temperature. For the majority of these reactions 1-nitropyrene was the nitro-PAH formed in the greatest amount and was determined to occur heterogeneously (and not in the gas-phase) by using isomer distribution patterns of deuterated nitro-PAHs either formed on filter surfaces or collected from the chamber in the gas-phase. Chapter 5 investigates the contributions of atmospheric formation (OH versus NO3 chemistry) and direct emissions (electrophilic nitration products) to ambient gas-phase and particulate nitro-PAHs sampled in the Los Angeles air basin and Mexico City, Mexico, over several sampling campaigns using a combination of several marker ratios of volatile and semi-volatile nitro-PAHs. Ratios of 2-nitrofluoranthene (2-NFL)/2-nitropyrene (2-NPY), 2-methyl-4-nitronaphthalene (2M4NN)/1-methyl-5-nitronaphthalene (1M5NN), and 2,7-dimethyl-4-nitronaphthalene (2,7DM4NN)/1,7-dimethyl-5-nitronaphthalene (1,7DM5NN) were used to assess the contribution of OH radical chemistry versus NO3 radical chemistry to ambient nitro-PAHs from 50 particle-phase and gas-phase samples. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
