PARENT SESSION

PW02 Atmospheric Chemistry
Exhibit Hall
8:00 AM - Wednesday

(PW024) The Role of Photolysis in the Atmospheric Fate of Perfluorinated Aldehydes: Gas Phase UV and IR Absorption Spectra.

Hashikawa, Y¹, Kawasaki, M¹, Sulbaek Andersen, M², Nielsen, O², Hurley, M³, Wallington, T³, Waterland, R⁴, ¹ Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan² University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark³ Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MI, USA⁴ E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Inc., Wilmington, DE, USA

ABSTRACT- Long-chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs, C_xF_2x+1COOH, where x = 6 - 12) have been observed in remote locations and are presumed to be the atmospheric degradation products of precursor chemicals. Atmospheric oxidation of fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs), C_xF_2x+1CH₂CH₂OH, has been suggested as a possible source of PFCAs. It is well established that the initial atmospheric oxidation products of FTOHs are perfluorinated aldehydes, but the subsequent fate of these aldehydes is unclear at this time. Since UV photolysis is likely to be an important removal process for perfluorinated aldehydes, we have examined the UV and IR spectra of C_xF_2x+1CHO (x=1-4) using computational and experimental techniques. We compare our results with the limited existing literature data and we discuss the relevance of these results to the atmospheric fate of C_xF_2x+1CHO.

Key words: atmospheric fate, ultraviolet and infrared spectra, perfluorinated aldehyde, photolysis