PNNL

Abstract

Aerosol samples collected in the urban areas of Shanghai and Los Angeles were analyzed by nanospray-desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (nano-DESI MS) with high mass resolution (m/?m=100,000). Solvent mixtures of acetonitrile/water and acetonitrile/toluene were used to extract and ionize polar and non-polar compounds, respectively. A diverse mixture of oxygenated hydrocarbons, organosulfates, organonitrates, and organics with reduced nitrogen were detected in the Los Angeles sample. Majority of the organics in the Shanghai sample were detected as organosulfates. The dominant organosulfates in the two samples have distinctly different molecular characteristics. Specifically, organosulfates in the Los Angeles sample were dominated by isoprene- or monoterpene-derived products, while organosulfates of yet unknown origin in the Shanghai sample had distinctive characteristics of long aliphatic carbon chains and low degree of oxidation and unsaturation. The use of acetonitrile/toluene solvent facilitated identification of this type of organosulfates, suggesting they could be missed in previous studies relying on sample extraction using common polar solvents. The high molecular weight and low degree of unsaturation and oxidization of the organosulfates detected in the Shanghai sample suggest that they may act as surfactants, and plausibly affect the surface tension and hygroscopicity of the atmospheric particulate matter. We propose that direct esterification of carbonyl or hydroxyl compounds by sulfates or sulfuric acid in liquid phase could be the formation pathway of these special organosulfates. Long-chain alkanes from vehicle emissions might be their precursors.