Abstract Number: 1339 Working Group: Aerosol Chemistry
Abstract The chemical composition of atmospheric aerosol is complex and poorly understood. Aqueous reactions of aldehydes with amines or ammonium salts have been implicated in atmospheric brown carbon formation processes. Recent work has started to identify the products of these reactions, especially those responsible for visible light absorbance. However, few studies have looked at the reaction products of ammonium with a mixture of aldehydes. Supercritical fluid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry equipped with a photodiode array is tested as a viable technique for separation and identification of the reaction products of mixtures of small, water soluble carbonyls (e.g. glyoxal, methylglyoxal, and glycolaldehyde) with ammonium sulfate. We present information on the efficacy of this separation technique as well as structural and mass comparisons between products formed from the reaction of a single aldehyde with ammonium and a mixture of aldehydes and ammonium sulfate. The results of these studies will allow us to better understand the aqueous chemistry occurring in atmospheric aerosol droplets.