Determination of carbon balances for smog chamber terpene oxidation experiments using a 14C tracer technique

In the last decade, numerous studies of monoterpene hydrocarbons in the presence of ozone and oxides of nitrogen have been completed. Although insights about the reactivity of terpenes have been gained, and several products have been identified in the gas and aerosol phases, carbon balances have been generally poor. This paper describes a radiotracer technique which accounts for carbon-containing compounds in a smog chamber at the conclusion of a photooxidation or ozonolysis reaction. Instead of attempting to identify individual products, gas-phase compounds were separated from aerosols, and each phase was analyzed by a liquid scintillation counter. A carbon balance of 79 to 97% was obtained with ¹⁴C--pinene and ozone using this technique. The significance of the results are discussed in terms of the ¹⁴C--pinene concentrations used in this study, which were lower than concentrations used previously by one to four orders of magnitude. In spite of the lower concentrations, the gaseous and aerosol fractions observed in the present investigation are comparable to those observed by others. Possible reaction products are discussed with respect to likely mechanisms for -pinene oxidation.