Trace volatile organic compounds (VOCs) play an important role in tropospheric chemistry. They are involved in production of species such as ozone, peroxyacetyl nitrate, or organic acids and affect concentrations of other reactive species. The dominant source of VOCs may be biogenic in origin although sources and sinks are not well quantified. In addition, conditions affecting and processes leading to biogenic VOC production are not always well understood.
Flow reactors coupled to mass spectrometers have recently been adopted for on-line measurement of a variety of VOCs in the atmosphere and have found additional application in medical and food processing research. Such instruments generally employ ion/molecule reactions (chemical ionization) to gently and selectively ionize VOCs in real time. Ionized products can then be separated and detected using a mass spectrometer.
This talk will discuss the use of flow reactors for detecting VOCs emitted from a variety of plant species in a laboratory setting as well as an investigations of useful and pertinent ion/molecule reaction chemistry for their detection.