Volume 136, Issue 6 e202316060
Forschungsartikel

Ammonolysis of Glyoxal at the Air-Water Nanodroplet Interface

Zegang Dong

Zegang Dong

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640 China

School of Materials Science and Engineering, Guizhou Minzu University, Guiyang, 550025 China

Search for more papers by this author
Prof. Dr. Joseph S. Francisco

Corresponding Author

Prof. Dr. Joseph S. Francisco

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA-19104 USA

Search for more papers by this author
Prof. Dr. Bo Long

Corresponding Author

Prof. Dr. Bo Long

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640 China

School of Materials Science and Engineering, Guizhou Minzu University, Guiyang, 550025 China

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 12 December 2023
Citations: 3

Abstract

The reactions of glyoxal (CHO)2) with amines in cloud processes contribute to the formation of brown carbon and oligomer particles in the atmosphere. However, their molecular mechanisms remain unknown. Herein, we investigate the ammonolysis mechanisms of glyoxal with amines at the air-water nanodroplet interface. We identified three and two distinct pathways for the ammonolysis of glyoxal with dimethylamine and methylamine by using metadynamics simulations at the air-water nanodroplet interface, respectively. Notably, the stepwise pathways mediated by the water dimer for the reactions of glyoxal with dimethylamine and methylamine display the lowest free energy barriers of 3.6 and 4.9 kcal ⋅ mol−1, respectively. These results showed that the air-water nanodroplet ammonolysis reactions of glyoxal with dimethylamine and methylamine were more feasible and occurred at faster rates than the corresponding gas phase ammonolysis, the OH+(CHO)2 reaction, and the aqueous phase reaction of glyoxal, leading to the dominant removal of glyoxal. Our results provide new and important insight into the reactions between carbonyl compounds and amines, which are crucial in forming nitrogen-containing aerosol particles.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available in the supplementary material of this article.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.