OH radical formation from the gas-phase reaction of ozone with terminal alkenes and the relationship between structure and mechanism

The reactions of ozone with alkenes have been shown recently to lead to the direct production of OH radicals in quantities that vary from 7 to 100% depending on the structure of the alkene. OH radicals are the most important oxidizing species in the lower atmosphere, and the OH-alkene reaction is a large source of new OH radicals, important in urban and rural air during both day and night. Evidence for OH formation comes both from low-pressure direct measurements and from tracer experiments at high pressure, With the goal of measuring OH formation yields with good precision, a small-ratio relative rate technique was developed. This method uses small amounts of fast-reacting aromatics and aliphatic ethers to trace OH formation yields. Here, we report OH formation yields for a series of terminal alkenes reacting with ozone. Measured OH yields were 0.29 +/- 0.05, 0.24 +/- 0.05, 0.18 +/- 0.04, and 0.10 +/- 0.03 for 1-butene, 1-pentene, 1-hexene, and 1-octene, respectively. For the methyl-substituted terminal alkenes methyl propene and 2-methyl-1-butene, OH yields were 0.72 +/- 0.12 and 0.67 +/- 0.12, respectively. The results are discussed both in terms of their atmospheric implications and the relationship between structure and OH formation.