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Originally published in Science Express on 3 July 2008
Science 22 August 2008:
Vol. 321. no. 5892, p. 1059
DOI: 10.1126/science.1158777
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N2O5 Oxidizes Chloride to Cl2 in Acidic Atmospheric Aerosol

James M. Roberts,1* Hans D. Osthoff,1,2{dagger} Steven S. Brown,1 A. R. Ravishankara1,3

Molecular chlorine (Cl2) is an important yet poorly understood trace constituent of the lower atmosphere. Although a number of mechanisms have been proposed for the conversion of particle-bound chloride (Cl-) to gas-phase Cl2, the detailed processes involved remain uncertain. Here, we show that reaction of dinitrogen pentoxide (N2O5) with aerosol-phase chloride yields Cl2 at low pH (<2) and should constitute an important halogen activation pathway in the atmosphere.

1 Chemical Sciences Division, Earth System Research Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO 80305, USA.
2 Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental Sciences, NOAA, and the University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
3 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Chemistry, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: James.M.Roberts{at}noaa.gov

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Are chlorine atoms significant tropospheric free radicals?.
A. R. Ravishankara (2009)
PNAS 106, 13639-13640
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