A Mechanism for the Aqueous Phase Production of Alkyl Nitrates

Measurements of alkyl nitrates in the surface ocean and marine boundary layer indicate that there is an oceanic source of alkyl nitrates to the marine troposphere. Alkyl nitrates make up a portion of the total reactive nitrogen in the troposphere. They can contribute significantly to the NO_x budget in the remote marine atmosphere, affecting regional ozone formation. The origin of the alkyl nitrate in the surface ocean is unknown. One possible mechanism for aqueous alkyl nitrate formation is the reaction of alkyl peroxy radicals with NO (ROO + NO -> RONO₂). Peroxy radicals and NO have been observed in seawater at levels that make this a viable reaction (Blough 1997) (Zafiriou and McFarland 1981). In this project, steady state irradiations of nitrite and alkane solutions were used to determine the yield of alkyl nitrates from this reaction. The yield for ethyl nitrate has been determined to be 101+/-12% and 102+/-8% total yield for propyl nitrates (n-propyl and iso-propyl) with no evident temperature dependence between 5 and 30° C. Alkyl nitrates were also generated by the irradiation of natural seawater and nitrite-spiked seawater. These results indicate that the proposed mechanism may be a viable source of alkyl nitrates in surface waters.