Quantum yields for the photodissociation of acetone in air and an estimate for the life time of acetone in the lower troposphere

The room-temperature photodecomposition of acetone diluted with synthetic air was studied at nine wavelengths in the spectral region 250–330 nm. The quantum yields for the products CO₂ and CO indicated that it was not possible to suppress secondary reactions sufficiently, even with acetone/air mixing ratios as low as 150 ppmv, to derive from these data primary acetone photodissociation quantum yields. The behavior of CO₂ and CO formation nevertheless provides some insight into the mechanism of acetone photodecomposition. When small amounts of NO₂ are added to acetone/air mixtures, peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) is formed. Quantum yields for PAN are reported. They are better suited to represent primary quantum yields for acetone photodissociation, because PAN is a direct indicator for the formation of acetyl radicals. The data were combined with absorption cross-sections for acetone measured at wavelengths up to 360 nm to calculate photodissociation coefficients applicable to the ground-level atmosphere at 40° northern latitude. Comparison with the rates for the reaction of acetone with OH radicals shows that both processes contribute almost equally to the total acetone losses in the lower atmosphere. The resulting atmospheric life time at 40° northern latitude is 32 days, on average. This value must be considered an upper limit, since it does not take into account acetone losses due to the reaction of excited triplet acetone with oxygen.