Atmospheric Chemistry of Reduced Nitrogen Compounds

The 03-isoprene reaction proceeds by initial addition of 03 to the C=C double bonds to form two primary ozonides, each of which decomposes to two sets of carbonyl plus biradical products (a minor channel is apparently formation of a 1,2-epoxymethyl butene). This mechanism is consistent with the formation of formaldehyde, methacrolein, and methyl vinyl ketone. As in other 03-alkene reactions, OH radicals are observed in significant yield, about 0.27 molecule of OH per 03-isoprene reaction. 

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In 1995, three chemists, Mario Molina, Sherman Rowland, and Paul Crutzen, warned world leaders of damage being done to the O3 (ozone) layer. This natural layer of O3 molecules, located from 9 to 30 miles up into the atmosphere, protects the Earth from cancer-causing and damaging ultraviolet radiation from the sun. They discovered that human-made compounds of nitrogen oxides and chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases, used as refrigerants and propellants in spray cans, reacted with atmospheric ozone and reduced it. For their work, they received the 1995 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. 

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