Oxidation of atmospheric reduced sulphur compounds: Perspective from laboratory studies

Results of laboratory experiments which address the course of the OH+DMS (dimethyl sulphide) reaction in the atmosphere are presented. It is shown that OH reacts via a complex sequence of reactions to produce CH3S and other products, and argued that NO3 is unlikely to be an important oxidizer of DMS in the marine boundary layer because it is very efficiently taken up by water droplets. A simplified mechanism for the oxidation of DMS in the troposphere is presented. This mechanism explains some of the field observations on the end products of DMS oxidation and their variations with temperature.