Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 20 February 2004:
Vol. 303. no. 5661, pp. 1173 - 1176
DOI: 10.1126/science.1092805
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Formation of Secondary Organic Aerosols Through Photooxidation of Isoprene

Magda Claeys,1* Bim Graham,2,3 Gyorgy Vas,1 Wu Wang,1 Reinhilde Vermeylen,1 Vlada Pashynska,1 Jan Cafmeyer,4 Pascal Guyon,2 Meinrat O. Andreae,2 Paulo Artaxo,5 Willy Maenhaut4

Detailed organic analysis of natural aerosols from the Amazonian rain forest showed considerable quantities of previously unobserved polar organic compounds, which were identified as a mixture of two diastereoisomeric 2-methyltetrols: 2-methylthreitol and 2-methylerythritol. These polyols, which have the isoprene skeleton, can be explained by OH radical–initiated photooxidation of isoprene. They have low vapor pressure, allowing them to condense onto preexisting particles. It is estimated that photooxidation of isoprene results in an annual global production of about 2 teragrams of the polyols, a substantial fraction of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimate of between 8 and 40 teragrams per year of secondary organic aerosol from biogenic sources.

1 Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Antwerp, Belgium.
2 Biogeochemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Post Office Box 3060, D-55020 Mainz, Germany.
3 Atmospheric Research, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, PMB 1, Aspendale, Victoria 3195, Australia.
4 Department of Analytical Chemistry, Institute for Nuclear Sciences, Ghent University, Proeftuinstraat 86, B-9000 Gent, Belgium.
5 Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, Rua do Matão, Travessa R, 187, CEP 05508–900 São Paulo, Brazil.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: magda.claeys{at}ua.ac.be

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Epoxying Isoprene Chemistry.
T. E. Kleindienst (2009)
Science 325, 687-688
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Unexpected Epoxide Formation in the Gas-Phase Photooxidation of Isoprene.
F. Paulot, J. D. Crounse, H. G. Kjaergaard, A. Kurten, J. M. St. Clair, J. H. Seinfeld, and P. O. Wennberg (2009)
Science 325, 730-733
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Phenology Feedbacks on Climate Change.
J. Penuelas, T. Rutishauser, and I. Filella (2009)
Science 324, 887-888
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Methane and the CH4 related greenhouse effect over the past 400 million years.
D. Beerling, R. A. Berner, F. T. Mackenzie, M. B. Harfoot, and J. A. Pyle (2009)
Am J Sci 309, 97-113
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
From the Cover: Isoprene interferes with the attraction of bodyguards by herbaceous plants.
M. Loivamaki, R. Mumm, M. Dicke, and J.-P. Schnitzler (2008)
PNAS 105, 17430-17435
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Isoprene Emission from Plants: Why and How.
T. D. Sharkey, A. E. Wiberley, and A. R. Donohue (2008)
Ann. Bot. 101, 5-18
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Critical issues in trace gas biogeochemistry and global change.
D. J Beerling, C Nicholas Hewitt, J. A Pyle, and J. A Raven (2007)
Phil Trans R Soc A 365, 1629-1642
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Interpreting satellite column observations of formaldehyde over tropical South America.
P. I Palmer, M. P Barkley, T. P Kurosu, A. C Lewis, J. E Saxton, K. Chance, and L. V Gatti (2007)
Phil Trans R Soc A 365, 1741-1751
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Phytoplankton and Cloudiness in the Southern Ocean.
N. Meskhidze and A. Nenes (2006)
Science 314, 1419-1423
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)