Nitrate radical hydrocarbons

Titov and co-workers, although conceding the validity of the ionic nitration mechanism for liq phase nitrations with coned acids, believe that many nitrations occur via a free-radical mechanism involving the free radicals (at any rate molecules having an unpaired electron) N02, N03, and NO. For vapor phase nitration of hydrocarbons, nitration of side chains of aromatic compds in... 

The detailed model was constructed as described by Carslaw et al. (1999, 2002). Briefly, measurements of NMHCs, CO and CH4 were used to define a reactivity index with OH, in order to determine which NMHCs, along with CO and CH4, to include in the overall mechanism. The product of the concentration of each hydrocarbon (and CO) measured on each day during the campaign and its rate coefficient for the reaction with OH was calculated. All NMHCs that are responsible for at least 0.1% of the OH loss due to total hydrocarbons and CO on any day during the campaign are included in the mechanism (Table 2). Reactions of OH with the secondary species formed in the hydrocarbon oxidation processes, as well as oxidation by the nitrate radical (NO3) and ozone are also included in the... 

Chemical/Physical. Under atmospheric conditions, the gas-phase reaction of o-xylene with OH radicals and nitrogen oxides resulted in the formation of o-tolualdehyde, o-methylbenzyl nitrate, nitro-o-xylenes, 2,3-and 3,4-dimethylphenol (Atkinson, 1990). Kanno et al. (1982) studied the aqueous reaction of o-xylene and other aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, w and p-xylene, and naphthalene) with hypochlorous acid in the presence of ammonium ion. They reported that the aromatic ring was not chlorinated as expected but was cleaved by chloramine forming cyanogen chloride. The amount of cyanogen chloride formed increased at lower pHs (Kanno et al., 1982). In the gas phase, o-xylene reacted with nitrate radicals in purified air forming the following products 5-nitro-2-methyltoluene and 6-nitro-2-methyltoluene, o-methylbenzaldehyde, and an aryl nitrate (Chiodini et ah, 1993). 

The vapour phase nitration of hydrocarbons proceeds via a radical mechanism and so it is found that tertiary carbon centres are nitrated most readily, followed by secondary and primary... 

As seen in Table 6.1, the reactions of the nitrate radical with the simple aromatic hydrocarbons are generally too slow to be important in the tropospheric decay of the organic. However, one of the products of the aromatic reactions, the cresols, reacts quite rapidly with NO,. o-Cresol, for example, reacts with N03 with a room temperature rate constant of 1.4 X 10 " cm3 molecule-1 s-1, giving a lifetime for the cresol of only 1 min at 50 ppt N03. This rapid reaction is effectively an overall hydrogen abstraction from the pheno-... 

Penkett, S. A, N. J. Blake, P. Lightman, A. R. W. Marsh, P. Anwyl, and G. Butcher, The Seasonal Variation of Nonmethane Hydrocarbons in the Free Troposphere over the North Atlantic Ocean Possible Evidence for Extensive Reaction of Hydrocarbons with the Nitrate Radical, J. Geophys. Res., 98, 2865-2885 (1993). 

As a strong oxidant (E = 2.3-2.7V vs SCE [saturated calomel electrode]), the nitrate radical is also very active in thermal reactions, eg it induces oxidation of the aliphatic hydrocarbons ... 

The nitrate radical has a range of reactivity towards VOCs. The nitrate radical is highly reactive towards certain unsaturated hydrocarbons such as isoprene, a variety of butenes and monoterpenes, as well as reduced sulfur compounds such as dimethylsulfide (DMS). In the case of DMS, if the NO2 concentration is 60% that of DMS then NO3 is a more important oxidant than OH for DMS in the MBL. In general, NO3 abstraction reactions of the type... 

Gasoline hydrocarbons volatilized to the atmosphere quickly undergo photochemical oxidation. The hydrocarbons are oxidized by reaction with molecular oxygen (which attacks the ring structure of aromatics), ozone (which reacts rapidly with alkenes but slowly with aromatics), and hydroxyl and nitrate radicals (which initiate side-chain oxidation reactions) (Stephens 1973). Alkanes, isoalkanes, and cycloalkanes have half-lives on the order of 1-10 days, whereas alkenes, cycloalkenes, and substituted benzenes have half- lives of less than 1 day (EPA 1979a). Photochemical oxidation products include aldehydes, hydroxy compounds, nitro compounds, and peroxyacyl nitrates (Cupitt 1980 EPA 1979a Stephens 1973). 

The kinetics of the reactions of many xenobiotics with hydroxyl and nitrate radicals have been examined under simulated atmospheric conditions and include (1) aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons (Tuazon et al. 1986) and substituted monocyclic aromatic compounds (Atkinson et al. 1987c) (2) terpenes (Atkinson et al. 1985a) (3) amines (Atkinson et al. 1987a) (4) heterocyclic compounds (Atkinson et al. 1985b) and (5) chlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons (Kwok et al. 1995). For PCBs (Anderson and Hites 1996), rate constants were highly dependent on the number of chlorine atoms, and calculated atmospheric lifetimes varied from 2 days for 3-chlorobiphenyl to 34 days for 2,2, 3,5, 6-pentachlorbiphenyl. It was estimated that loss by hydroxylation in the atmosphere was a primary process for removal of PCBs from the environment. It was later shown that the products were chlorinated benzoic acids produced by initial reaction with a... 

The nitrate radical (NO3) which is present in the troposphere primarily during nighttime is also a powerful oxidant, and reacts efficiently with many organic compounds (nonmethane hydrocarbons, DMS, etc.). Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a major oxidant for SO2 inside water droplets, and contributes to the formation of sulfate aerosols. 

Biogenic hydrocarbons are principally emitted by trees. Isoprene and a- and /3-pinene are the most abundant biogenic hydrocarbons which are emitted (Dimitriades, 1981) (see Fig. 7). The rate constants of the reactions of the biogenics with OH, ozone, and nitrate radicals have been well investigated (Atkinson, 1991 Atkinson et ai, 1990). However, limited data are available concerning the products of biogenic reactions in the atmosphere. 

The PANs are known to be quite sensitive to walls in laboratory studies, and therefore are likely to react on aerosol surfaces. The PANs are very soluble in nonpolar organics. PANs can undergo important oxidation reactions on soot surfaces, leading to the formation of oxidized and nitrated polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons which can be highly mutagenic. " The measurement of the PANs, as well as more usual oxidants such as O3, nitrate radical, and hydroxyl radical, is an important part of the characterization of potentially hazardous air pollutants. 

G.6.2.3 Aromatic Hydrocarbons Rate constants for the reaction of hydroxyl and nitrate radicals with some aromatic hydrocarbons are compiled in Table 6.23, and it is clear that with a few exceptions, that the hydroxyl radical is the more... 

TABLE 6.23 Rate Constants for the Reaction of Hydroxyl and Nitrate Radicals with Aromatic Hydrocarbons at Ambient Temper atnres ... 

This work was intended to give information about non-photochemical processes affecting species that are involved in hydrocarbon oxidation and ozone formation, such as the hydrocarbons themselves or the active nitrogen compounds. The main part of the work was concerned with rates and products in nitrate radical reactions with various hydrocarbons. Some interest was also taken in purely inorganic reactions. 

Penkett, S.A., R.A. Burgess, H. Coe, I. Coll, 0. Hov, A. Lindskog, N. Schmidbauer, S. Solberg, M. Roemer, T. Thijsse, J. Beck, and C.E. Reeves (2007), Evidence for large average concentrations of the nitrate radical (NO3) in Western Europe from the HANSA hydrocarbon database, Atmos. Environ., 41, 3465-3478. 

Nitrations are highly exothermic, ie, ca 126 kj/mol (30 kcal/mol). However, the heat of reaction varies with the hydrocarbon that is nitrated. The mechanism of a nitration depends on the reactants and the operating conditions. The reactions usually are either ionic or free-radical. Ionic nitrations are commonly used for aromatics many heterocycHcs hydroxyl compounds, eg, simple alcohols, glycols, glycerol, and cellulose and amines. Nitration of paraffins, cycloparaffins, and olefins frequentiy involves a free-radical reaction. Aromatic compounds and other hydrocarbons sometimes can be nitrated by free-radical reactions, but generally such reactions are less successful. 

An important side reaction in all free-radical nitrations is reaction 10, in which unstable alkyl nitrites are formed (eq. 10). They decompose to form nitric oxide and alkoxy radicals (eq. 11) which form oxygenated compounds and low molecular weight alkyl radicals which can form low molecular weight nitroparaffins by reactions 7 or 9. The oxygenated hydrocarbons often react further to produce even lighter oxygenated products, carbon oxides, and water. 

A o R + HNO3 followed by R + N02 - RN02. According to Titov the formation of the reactive R radicals explains the many side reactions (eg oxidations, nit ro sat ions etc) observed in hydrocarbon nitrations... 

Titov claims that the free radical mechanism applies for nitration of aliphatic hydrocarbons, of aromatic side chains, of olefins, and of aromatic ring carbons, if irf the latter case the nitrating agent is ca 60—70% nitric acid that is free of nitrous acid, or even more dil acid if oxides of nitrogen are present... 

Another nitration procedure uses ozone and nitrogen dioxide.11 With aromatic hydrocarbons and activated derivatives, this nitration is believed to involve the radical cation of the aromatic reactant. 

Chemical radicals—such as hydroxyl, peroxyhydroxyl, and various alkyl and aryl species—have either been observed in laboratory studies or have been postulated as photochemical reaction intermediates. Atmospheric photochemical reactions also result in the formation of finely divided suspended particles (secondary aerosols), which create atmospheric haze. Their chemical content is enriched with sulfates (from sulfur dioxide), nitrates (from nitrogen dioxide, nitric oxide, and peroxyacylnitrates), ammonium (from ammonia), chloride (from sea salt), water, and oxygenated, sulfiirated, and nitrated organic compounds (from chemical combination of ozone and oxygen with hydrocarbon, sulfur oxide, and nitrogen oxide fragments). ... 

Besides ozone, the main indicator of photochemical pollution, other important concomitant products are peroxyacetylnitrate (PAN), hydrogen peroxide, nitrogen dioxide, hydroxyl radicals and various aldehydes that are both products and primary pollutants, particles, sulfates, nitrates, ammonium, chloride, water, and various types of oxygenated organic compounds. The most important precursors of photochemical pollution are nitric oxide and hydrocarbons. The measurement procedures for the hydrocarbons are not as highly developed as those for ozone and the nitrogen oxides. 

For nitration of aromatic hydrocarbons with acetylnitrate, there is a clear linear correlation between the IPs of these hydrocarbons and rate constants relative to benzene (Pedersen et al. 1973). Table 4.4 jnxtaposes spin densities of cation-radicals and partial rate factors of ring attacks in the case of nitration of isomeric xylenes with nitric acid in acetic anhydride. 

Olah showed that nitrations can be split into the three categories of electrophilic, nucleophilic and free radical nitration. Free radical nitrations are extensively used for the industrial synthesis of low molecular weight nitroalkanes from aliphatic hydrocarbons. Nucleophilic nitration is the basis for a number of important methods for the synthesis of nitro and polynitro alkanes. Generally speaking only electrophilic nitration is of preparative importance for the... 

Ellis and coworkers studied the effect of lead oxide on the thermal decomposition of ethyl nitrate vapor.P l They proposed that the surface provided by the presence of a small amount of PbO particles could retard the burning rate due to the quenching of radicals. However, the presence of a copper surface accelerates the thermal decomposition of ethyl nitrate, and the rate of the decomposition process is controlled by a reaction step involving the NO2 molecule. Hoare and coworkers studied the inhibitory effect of lead oxide on hydrocarbon oxidation in a vessel coated with a thin fQm of PbO.P l They suggested that the process of aldehyde oxidation by the PbO played an important role. A similar result was found in that lead oxide acts as a powerful inhibitor in suppressing cool flames and low-temperature ignitions.P l... 

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