Photochemical Formation of C₁–C₅ Alkyl Nitrates in Suburban Hong Kong and over the South China Sea

Abstract

Alkyl nitrates (RONO₂) are important reservoirs of atmospheric nitrogen, regulating nitrogen cycling and ozone (O₃) formation. In this study, we found that propane and <i>n</i>-butane were significantly lower at the offshore site (WSI) in Hong Kong (<i>p</i> < 0.05), whereas C₃–C₄ RONO₂ were comparable to the suburban site (TC) (<i>p</i> > 0.05). Stronger oxidative capacity at WSI led to more efficient RONO₂ formation. Relative incremental reactivity (RIR) was for the first time used to evaluate RONO₂–precursor relationships. In contrast to a consistently volatile organic compounds (VOC)-limited regime at TC, RONO₂ formation at WSI switched from VOC-limited regime during O₃ episodes to VOC and nitrogen oxides (NO_<i>x</i>) colimited regime during nonepisodes. Furthermore, unlike the predominant contributions of parent hydrocarbons to C₄–C₅ RONO₂, the production of C₁–C₃ RONO₂ was more sensitive to other VOCs like aromatics and carbonyls, which accounted for ∼40–90% of the productions of C₁–C₃ alkylperoxy (RO₂) and alkoxy radicals (RO) at both sites. This resulted from the decomposition of larger RO₂/RO and the change of OH abundance under the photochemistry of other VOCs. This study advanced our understanding of the photochemical formation of RONO₂, particularly the relationships between RONO₂ and their precursors, which were not confined to the parent hydrocarbons