concentration of NOx , even though in the high-NO experi-
ments the relative importance of the reaction of 2/3 with O2
and NO changes by about a factor of 2. This indicates that
within the experimental errors E,E-2,4-hexadienedial is not
formed in the absence of NOx . While this is expected from
the reaction mechanism shown in Fig. 1, it appears to be in
contradiction to the results of Berndt et al.13 and Berndt and
Bo¨ge.17 The FTIR spectra shown by Berndt et al.,13 measured
under NOx-free conditions, seem to show significant absorp-
tions of E,E-2,4-hexadienedial. In part I of this series7 it was
speculated that the very high radical concentrations in that sys-
tem may have led to a different chemistry of the intermediates
2/3, leading to the formation of E,E-2,4-hexadienedial
through pathways not occurring under atmospheric condi-
tions. In the more recent NOx dependent study of Berndt
and Bo¨ge,17 a maximum E,E-2,4-hexadienedial yield of about
36% of the benzene reacted was found at very high concentra-
tions of NOx , using an estimated absorption cross section.
When this yield is re-calibrated using the FTIR absorption
cross section of Etzkorn et al.18 a value of 17% is obtained.
When it is further considered that a maximum of about 70%
of 2/3 reacts with NO under the experimental conditions of
Berndt and Bo¨ge,17 a yield of 24% is obtained for the forma-
tion of E,E-2,4-hexadienedial from reaction (12). This com-
pares well with the value of (29 ꢀ 16)% found here. The E,E-
2,4-hexadienedial yields of Berndt and Bo¨ge drop significantly
at low NOx concentrations (see their Fig. 4), though there
appears to be a statistically significant E,E-2,4-hexadienedial
formation of about 10% (re-calibrated 7%) under NOx-free
conditions. This is consistent with Berndt et al.,13 but not with
the results of the present study.
The error limits of the E,E-2,4-hexadienedial yields reported
in Table 2 are a combination of an estimated uncertainty of
50% resulting from the degradation kinetics of this compound,
and the 2-sigma errors from the fitting procedure described in
section 2.8. The atmospheric chemistry of E,E-2,4-hexadiene-
dial was not determined in our laboratory but was adapted
from the literature,23,24 the error is therefore largely systematic
in nature. However, the good agreement with the value deter-
mined by Berndt and Bo¨ge,17 whose experimental set-up is far
less susceptible to secondary chemistry than that reported
herein, indicates that our estimated uncertainty of 50% is very
conservative. The statement on the absence of E,E-2,4-hexa-
dienedial formation under NOx-free conditions is more pre-
cise. Our data regarding the absence of hexadienedials at low
concentrations of NOx is in agreement with two recent stu-
dies7,14 which observed no indication for the formation of
hexadienedials in the presence of low concentrations of NOx
(several tens ppb). Under these conditions an upper limit for
the yield of hexadienedials from benzene of 8% was derived.14
spectral noise. It is noteworthy that the residual spectra in the
two types of high-NOx experiments are similar, both in terms
of the absorptions and their relative intensities, while the resi-
dual spectrum of the low-NOx experiment in panel (g) is signi-
ficantly less intense and shows different absorptions. This
reflects the fact that 97% of the loss of 2 and 3 in this experi-
ment is through reaction with O2 , and only 3% through reac-
tions with NO and NO2 . The similarity between the residual
spectra of the 2 types of high-NOx experiments shows that per-
oxynitrates, which cannot be formed at high concentrations of
NO, are not formed in significant yields. Some of the other
bands observed in panels (h) and (i) of Fig. 3 are indicative
of nitrates, which typically exhibit absorptions in the regions
around 1650 cmꢂ1, 1300 cmꢂ1, 850 cmꢂ1 and 1000 cmꢂ1 (some
only). The residual spectra of the high-NOx experiments show
bands around those regions, the nitrate band expected around
1650 cmꢂ1 may be obscured by saturated absorptions of NO2 .
The formation of nitrates in the reaction of peroxyl radicals
with NO has been known for some time.29 It is also established
that the nitrate yield increases with size of the peroxyl radical.
Nitrate yields of approximately 20% are observed in the reac-
tion of hexylperoxyl radicals with NO.27,30 It is reasonable to
expect a substantial nitrate yield in reaction (12).
Other absorptions are visible in the carbonyl region. The
band visible at 1830 cmꢂ1 is typical of electron rich carbonyl
groups, e.g. in R–CO–O–R. Additional strong bands at
1680, 1707 and 1750 cmꢂ1 indicate the presence of further car-
bonyls and unsaturated carbonyls. In contrast to the region
below 1600 cmꢂ1 the carbonyl regions exhibit similar absorp-
tions in the 3 systems studied. There are a few similarities
between the residual product spectra recorded here under
high-NOx conditions and the residual product spectra of the
OH initiated oxidation of hexadienedial isomers reported in
the literature.23 It seems likely that some of the residual
absorptions shown in panels (h) and (i) of Fig. 3 are attribut-
able to products of the further reaction of E,E-2,4-hexadiene-
dial.
One product that has been reported previously as arising
from the OH initiated oxidation of benzene in the presence
of NOx is nitrobenzene 13, which can be formed as shown in
Fig. 2. By comparison of panel (d) with panels (a)–(c) in
Fig. 3 it is evident that nitrobenzene, which is essentially
unreactive, is not formed above its detection limit. It is con-
cluded that, even at extremely high NOx concentrations, nitro-
benzene is formed in a yield below the value of (3.4 ꢀ 0.8)%
extrapolated for NOx-free conditions by Atkinson et al.,16
who determined yields of up to 10% under conditions of high
concentrations of NOx . Possible reasons for this and other dis-
crepancies are discussed in section 3.2. The absence of nitro-
benzene in the present study is in contradiction to the recent
results of Berndt and Bo¨ge,17 who found a yield of 11% at high
concentrations of NOx . This may again be an indication that
additional mechanisms are operative under the conditions of
that study. The results of Berndt and Bo¨ge are generally com-
patible with those of Atkinson, with the exception of nitroben-
zene formation at low concentrations of NOx , which Berndt
and Bo¨ge do not observe.
In summary, less than one third of the products of the reac-
tion of the hydroxycyclohexadienyl peroxyl radical 3 with NO
and less than 10% of the products of the reaction of the hydro-
xycyclohexadienyl radical 2 with NO2 could be identified in the
present study. Fig. 2 contains other possible pathways for
these reactions, however, phenol and E,E-2,4-hexadienedial
were the only products that could be identified. 1,2-Dihydroxy-
benzene 11, which may result from the reaction of 3 with NO,
is highly reactive31 and may be formed in considerable yield
without being detectable under the present experimental condi-
tions. On the basis of the residual product spectra shown in
Fig. 3, we speculate that nitrates and possibly other nitrogen
containing compounds are formed in high yields.
3.6 Other products of reactions (10) and (12)
The only product identified in the reaction of the hydroxy-
cyclohexadienyl peroxyl radical 3 with NO (reaction (12))
was E,E-2,4-hexadienedial 9 with a yield of (29 ꢀ 16)%, no
other products were observed which could be unequivocally
attributed to this reaction. In the case of the reaction of the
hydroxycyclohexadienyl radical 2 with NO2 (reaction (10)),
only two products were observed; phenol 4 and E,E-2,4-hexa-
dienedial 9 in yields of a few percent each. Thus the major
fraction of the products of both reactions could not be identi-
fied, and only minor products of reaction (10) were found.
Panels (g), (h), and (i) of Fig. 3 show residual product spec-
tra obtained in the 3 types of experiments performed at NIES.
These residual spectra were obtained by subtracting the
absorptions of all reactants and identified products from the
product spectra shown in panels (a), (b) and (c). The product
spectra were normalised by the benzene consumption to allow
an easier comparison, which again results in different levels of
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2002, 4, 4399–4411
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