Nitrogen compounds, tropospheric

In a series of articles, Robinson and Robbins (214-216) have reviewed the sinks, sources, and concentrations of tropospheric nitrogen compounds, while a survey of the early literature is provided by Junge (128). 

Nitrogen-containing compounds, particularly oxidized nitrogen compounds, play a central role in the chemistry of the troposphere. So-called active nitrogen, denoted NO, the sum of NO and N02, exerts a controlling influence on the abundance of the OH radical and is essential for the photochemical production of tropospheric ozone. 

The available experimental data suggest that this class of reduced nitrogen compounds will react mainly with OH radicals under tropospheric conditions. Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) reacts only slowly with OH radicals, with a room-temperature rate constant at atmospheric pressure of 3 X 10-14 cm3 molecule-1 s-1 (Atkinson, 1989). For the organic nitriles, the available evidence shows that the OH reaction occurs via H-atom abstraction from the alkyl groups, for example,... 

Ridley, B. A., Recent measurements of oxidized nitrogen compounds in the troposphere. Atmos. Environ. 25A, 1905 (1991). 

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