RUI: Epoxides from Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds: Gas Phase Formation and Aerosol Phase Reactions

Oberlin College, Oberlin OH

Investigators

Abstract

Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) are non-methane hydrocarbons globally emitted by plants in large quantities (~1150 teragrams of carbon per year: c.f. ~ 140 teragrams of anthropogenic carbon per year) and which are important precursors for photo-chemical smog formation, along with production of secondary organic aerosols. The work seeks in continuance of the Principal Investigator's interest in the potential involvement of isoprenoid epoxide intermediates in the oxidation of biogenic volatile organic compounds (e.g. a-pinene, b-pinene, limonene, 2-me-3-buten-2-ol, 3-Z-Hexenal) along with assessment of their subsequent gas phase and particle phase reactivity. Not all of these compounds are readily available, and thus some may need to be synthesized. The central mechanistic activity is then to study the epoxide formation, and their NOx and pressure dependence yields via reactions of BVOCs with OH, O3 and NO3, the common atmospheric oxidants. The previous RUI grant, and the PI's other support, has made possible the extensive participation of undergraduate students in aspects of atmospheric chemistry research. Over the past 17 years of NSF support through the PI's CAREER and RUI programs, some 46 undergraduate students have been involved in ongoing projects. During this same period, 33 of these students were coauthors on 30 of the 36 papers published by the Oberlin College PI.