Atmospheric oxidation mechanism of m-xylene initiated by OH radical.

The atmospheric oxidation mechanism of m-xylene (mX) initiated by the OH radical is investigated at M06-2X and ROCBS-QB3 levels, coupled with reaction kinetics calculations by using transition state theory and unimolecular RRKM-ME theory. The calculations show that the reaction between OH and mX is dominated by OH addition to the C2 and C4 positions, forming adducts mX-2-OH (R2) and mX-4-OH (R4). In the atmosphere, R2 and R4 react with O2 by irreversible H-abstraction to dimethylphenols or by reversible additions to bicyclic radical intermediates, which would recombine again with O2 to form bicyclic peroxy radicals, to bicyclic alkoxyl radicals by reacting with NO or HO2, and eventually to final products such as glyoxal, methylglyoxal, and their coproducts. The effects of reaction pressure and temperature are explored by RRKM-ME calculations. A mechanism at 298 K is proposed on the basis of current predictions and previous experimental and modeling results. The predicted product yields support the values in the SAPRC mechanism, even though the predicted yield of 1.0% for glyoxal is lower than the value of ∼11% from the experimental measurements.