title: Mechanism of the OH-initiated oxidation of glycolaldehyde over the temperature range 233-296 K.
abstract: The mechanism of the gas-phase OH-initiated oxidation of glycolaldehyde (HOCH(2)CHO) was studied in the 233-296 K temperature range using a turbulent flow reactor coupled with a chemical ionization mass spectrometer. In the presence of O2, formaldehyde, CO2, formic acid, and glyoxal were observed at room temperature with the yields of 80, 34, 18, and 14%, respectively. Decrease of temperature to 233 K led to significant changes in the yields of the stable products: those of formaldehyde and glyoxal decreased to 50 and 4%, respectively, whereas that of formic acid increased to 52%. It was also found that the OH + glycolaldehyde + O2 reaction proceeds with considerable reformation of OH radicals (by 25% at 296 K). The observed product yields are explained by a mechanism including formation of short-lived intermediate adducts of the primary radicals with O2. The implication of the obtained results for the HOx budget in the upper troposphere is discussed.
authors.affiliation: CNRS, Laboratoire de Combustion et Systèmes Réactifs, 1C Av. de la Recherche Scientifique, 45071 Orléans Cedex 2, France. bout@cnrs-orleans.fr
authors.forename: Nadezhda I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Butkovskaya
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pouvesle
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kukui
authors.forename: Georges Le
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Bras