Products of the gas-phase reaction of methyl tert-butyl ether with the OH radical in the presence of NOx

The products of the reaction of the hydroxyl (OH) radical with methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in NO_x-air systems were identified and measured by Fourier transform infrared absorption spectroscopy and gas chromatography. The products observed, and their yields, were as follows: t-butyl formate, 76 ± 7%; formaldehyde, 37%; methyl acetate, 17 ± 2%, and acetone, 2.1 ± 0.9%, where the stated error limits represent both random (two standard deviations) and estimated systematic uncertainties. These products account for ca. 95% of the MTBE carbon reacted. Infrared absorption bands which may be due to small amounts of organic nitrate formation were observed, but organic nitrate yields could not be quantified. These data allow a chemical mechanism for the reaction of MTBE with the OH radical in the presence of NO_x to be formulated.