Early stage composition of SOA produced by α-pinene/ozone reaction: α-Acyloxyhydroperoxy aldehydes and acidic dimers

Composition of the freshly formed secondary organic aerosol (SOA) generated by ozonolysis of cyclohexene, cyclohexene-d10 (model precursors) and α-pinene was studied using liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC–ESI/MS2). SOA was generated in the flow-tube reactor under the following conditions: 22 ± 2 °C, 1 atm and reaction time was approx. 30 s. In an attempt to resolve the current ambiguities, regarding the structure of α-pinene SOA nucleating agents, analytical methods for analysis of α-acyloxyhydroperoxy aldehydes and oligomers containing carboxylic group were developed to study the potential nucleating agents. Negatively charged m/z 351, 341, 337, 357 and 367 ions corresponding to the acidic oligomers were detected in freshly formed α-pinene SOA. For the first time, structures and formation mechanism for compounds detected as m/z 337 and 351 ions were proposed. Based on the model precursor analysis (cyclohexene and cyclohexene-d10) it was concluded that these compounds were most likely formed via aldol reaction of the lower molecular weight aerosol components. α-Acyloxyhydroperoxy aldehydes were studied in the SOA samples using previously developed, novel method, based on the prediction of fragmentation spectrum for the compounds of interest. It was concluded that α-acyloxyhydroperoxy aldehydes were not formed in significant quantities. Based on the obtained results, possible SOA formation and growth mechanism is discussed.