Nucleophilic Reactions of Amines with Epoxides on Secondary Organic Aerosol

Science Center, Bent Corridor

The reactions of gas phase epoxide intermediates are known to play an important role in secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation, and are thus linked to the issues of air pollution and global climate change. Previous work has shown that water, alcohols, sulfate, nitrate are important nucleophiles in the reactions of epoxides on SOA. Recent work has suggested that amines are also possible nucleophilic addition agents for these reactions. We have measured the rate constants for the reactions of a number of epoxides using various amines via nuclear magnetic resonance analytical methods. These experiments have allowed us to explore mechanistic detail as well as the effects of pH and molecular structure in each system. This work will provide a more detailed quantitative modeling of SOA in the atmosphere.