Exstrom, Christopher L.

Rettich, Faculty Advisor, Tim

Digital Commons @ Illinois Wesleyan University

Illinois Wesleyan UniversityDigital Commons @ IWUJohn Wesley Powell Student ResearchConference 1990, 1st Annual JWP ConferenceApr 6th, 6:30 PM - 8:00 PMPhotochemistry of Nitrous Acid and Nitrite IonChristopher L. ExstromIllinois Wesleyan UniversityTim Rettich, Faculty AdvisorIllinois Wesleyan UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/jwprcThis Event is brought to you for free and open access by The Ames Library, the Andrew W. Mellon Center for Curricular and FacultyDevelopment, the Office of the Provost and the Office of the President. It has been accepted for inclusion in Digital Commons @ IWU bythe faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@iwu.edu.©Copyright is owned by the author of this document.Christopher L. Exstrom and Tim Rettich, Faculty Advisor, "Photochemistry of Nitrous Acid and Nitrite Ion" (April 6, 1990).John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference. Paper 5.http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/jwprc/1990/posters/5PHOTOCHEMISTRY OF NITROUS ACID AND NITRITE ION Christopher L. Exstrom, Dept. of Chemistry, IWU, Tim Rettich* In a study of aquatic nitrogen chemistry, Zafiriou and True reported decomposition of and hydroxyl radical (OH) formation from nitrite ion (N02-) in seawater upon absorption of solar radiation. N02-exists in an add-base equilibrium with nitrous add (HONO) [N02- + H20 == HONO + OH-]. A comparison study of HONO and N02-photochemistry was undertaken to evaluate the importance of the preceding equilibrium. Aqueous HONO and aqueous N02- were each photolyzed with 365 nm radiation. Benzene, toluene, benzoic add, and terephthalic add were each used as OH-scavengers (there have been no previous reports of using the latter two compounds as OH-scavengers). In the case of HONO, it was determined by ultraviolet/visible (UV /vis.) light spectroscopy that the scavenger compound was hydroxylated by OH resulting from HONO photochemical decomposition and subsequently nitrosated by HONO. In the case of N02-, no hydroxylated aromatic compound was detected, and no decrease in N02- concentration was observed. It was concluded that, at 365 nm, HONO yields OH upon photolytic decomposition and N02- does not photolytically decompose to yield OH. Kinetic information for both thermal and photochemical decomposition of HONO was obtained. The proposed mechanism for OH-scavenging by benzene was examined under varying pH conditions. H202, a known OH producer, was photolyzed in the presence of benzene. UV /vis. spectroscopy indicated that one or more hydroxylated aromatic products formed, supporting the proposed OH-scavenging mechanism. 

Photochemistry of Nitrous Acid and Nitrite Ion

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Photochemistry of Nitrous Acid and Nitrite Ion

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