Atmospheric chemistry articles within Nature Chemistry

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  • News & Views |

    Light is a major driver of the chemistry of the atmosphere and usually involves the photolytic fragmentation of molecules into radicals before their reaction. New results show that formaldehyde, excited by low-energy light, can react with oxygen, opening up alternative atmospheric oxidation pathways.

    • Paul W. Seakins

  • Article |

    In the atmosphere, photolysis of formaldehyde generates H and HCO radicals, which then react with O2 to form HO2 (important in converting atmospheric carbon to CO2). Now it has been shown that internally excited formaldehyde can also react with atmospheric O2 to make HO2 in a direct, one-step ‘photophysical oxidation’, a mechanism likely to be general in the troposphere.

    • Blair A. Welsh
    • , Maggie E. Corrigan
    •  & Scott H. Kable

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Iodic acid (HIO3) forms aerosols very efficiently, but its gas-phase formation mechanism is not well understood. Atmospheric simulation chamber experiments, quantum chemical calculations and kinetic modelling have now revealed that HIO3 forms as an early iodine oxidation product from hypoiodite. The mechanism explains field measurements and suggests a catalytic role for iodine in particle formation.

    • Henning Finkenzeller
    • , Siddharth Iyer
    •  & Rainer Volkamer

  • News & Views |

    Atmospheric chemists have been unable to explain the rapid sulfate formation observed during wintertime aerosol pollution events. Now, kinetic measurements in atmospherically relevant aerosol particles have highlighted a significant role for nitrogen dioxide in sulfate formation via its interfacial reaction with dissolved SO2.

    • Jian Zhen Yu

  • Q&A |

    Krystal Vasquez, PhD student at Caltech, talks to Nature Chemistry about her experiences as an atmospheric researcher — both in the lab with her favourite instruments and in the scientific community as a disabled scientist — as well as her love for science writing.

    • Anne Pichon

  • Thesis |

    The hole in the ozone layer is a huge warning sign that society is in danger of ignoring, argues Bruce C. Gibb, who reflects on the legacy of Paul Crutzen and the Anthropocene.

    • Bruce C. Gibb

  • Thesis |

    If you feel like shifting your attention away from what’s happening here on planet Earth in 2020 for a moment, join Bruce C. Gibb on a tour through the chemistry of the largest planet in the Solar System.

    • Bruce C. Gibb

  • Comment |

    Stay-at-home policies invoked in response to COVID-19 have led to well-publicized drops in some air pollutants. The extent to which such reductions translate to improved air quality is dictated by not only emissions and meteorology, but also chemical transformations in the atmosphere.

    • Jesse H. Kroll
    • , Colette L. Heald
    •  & Allison L. Steiner

  • Thesis |

    When lightning strikes, Bruce C. Gibb reminds us that not only do sparks fly, but there’s also some chemistry going on too.

    • Bruce C. Gibb

  • Article |

    Molecular collisions can lead to the absorption of incident light even for transitions that are spectroscopically forbidden for the isolated molecules. Now the electronic–vibrational transitions of O2 have been theoretically studied and, contrary to textbook knowledge, it is shown that the absorption mechanism and the spectral line shape depend on the collision partner, oxygen or nitrogen.

    • Tijs Karman
    • , Mark A. J. Koenis
    •  & Gerrit C. Groenenboom

  • Article |

    Nearly all organic carbon has now been quantified and characterized in a highly complex evolving atmospheric system, specifically, the multigenerational oxidation of α-pinene. It has been observed that initial addition of functional groups quickly gives way to fragmentation reactions, with organic carbon ultimately becoming sequestered in chemically resistant reservoirs: organic aerosols and long-lived gas-phase species.

    • Gabriel Isaacman-VanWertz
    • , Paola Massoli
    •  & Jesse H. Kroll

  • Article |

    An important source of atmospheric hydroxyl radicals is from the dissociation of Criegee intermediates produced in alkene ozonolysis reactions. The dissociation dynamics of the prototypical CH3CHOO Criegee intermediate have now been determined. Complementary experimental and theoretical studies were carried out and the translational and internal energy distributions of the OH radical products were characterized.

    • Nathanael M. Kidwell
    • , Hongwei Li
    •  & Marsha I. Lester

  • News & Views |

    Many of the rate parameters used in models of tropospheric chemistry are obtained through laboratory ozonolysis experiments. Now, results on the self-reaction of an important, but long-elusive, intermediate could alter many of those inferences.

    • Craig A. Taatjes
    • , Dudley E. Shallcross
    •  & Carl J. Percival

  • Article |

    Criegee intermediates play an important role in atmospheric chemistry but their direct study has proved difficult. Transient infrared absorption spectroscopy has now been used to probe the decay kinetics of the Criegee intermediate CH2OO directly, revealing that its self-reaction is extremely rapid. This may have important consequences for the interpretation of previous laboratory experiments.

    • Yu-Te Su
    • , Hui-Yu Lin
    •  & Yuan-Pern Lee

  • In Your Element |

    Calcium is found throughout the solar system, the Earth's crust and oceans, and is an essential constituent of cells, shells and bones — yet it is curiously scarce in the upper atmosphere. John Plane ponders on this 25-year-old mystery.

    • John M. C. Plane

  • News & Views |

    The mechanism of NO and O2 production through the photolysis of the nitrate radical has long proved elusive. Now, theoretical studies help to explain previous experiments, suggesting that two distinct pathways are responsible that both involve 'roaming dynamics' on the 'dark' excited electronic state.

    • Simon W. North

  • Article |

    Unexpected and significant isotope exchange is observed in the near-threshold photodissociation of isopically labelled acetaldehyde. Theoretical modelling indicates that, at the lowest energies considered, an average of 20 H- or D-shifts occur before dissociation — evidence for extensive isomerization.

    • Brianna R. Heazlewood
    • , Alan T. Maccarone
    •  & Scott H. Kable

  • Article |

    It is shown that long-lived reactive oxygen intermediates are formed in heterogeneous reactions of ozone with aerosol particles, resolving apparent discrepancies between earlier quantum mechanical calculations and kinetic experiments. These intermediates play a key role in the chemical transformations and adverse health effects of toxic and allergenic air particulates.

    • Manabu Shiraiwa
    • , Yulia Sosedova
    •  & Ulrich Pöschl

  • News & Views |

    The radical–radical association reaction between hydroxyl and nitrogen dioxide plays a central role in atmospheric chemistry but has challenged experimentalists for decades. A study now measures all reactants and products and largely settles the issue.

    • Neil M. Donahue

  • Article |

    Chlorine-activation reactions on polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) particles are crucial to ozone depletion in the winter/spring polar stratosphere and their rates depend on the phase state of the PSC particle surface. Now experiments show that, on particle formation, a phase separation into pure ice with a residual solution coating takes place.

    • Anatoli Bogdan
    • , Mario J. Molina
    •  & Thomas Loerting

  • Research Highlights |

    Key intermediates and their roles in secondary organic aerosol formation from isoprene have been elucidated.

    • Gavin Armstrong

  • Research Highlights |

    Atmospheric organic aerosols from very different sources evolve towards similar characteristics, simplifying the models needed to investigate their effects on climate and air quality.

    • Anne Pichon

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