Formation of ring-retaining products from the OH radical-initiated reactions of benzene and toluene

The aromatic ring-retaining products formed from the gas–phase reactions of the OH radical with benzene and toluene, in the presence of NO_x, have been identified and their formation yields determined. These products, and their formation yields, are as follows: from benzene – phenol, 0.236 ± 0.044; nitrobenzene, {(0.0336 ± 0.0078) + (3.07 ± 0.92) × 10^?16[NO₂]}; from toluene – benzaldehyde, 0.0645 ± 0.0080; benzyl nitrate, 0.0084 ± 0.0017; o?cresol, 0.204 ± 0.027; m? + p?cresol, 0.048 ± 0.009; m-nitrotoluene, {(0.0135 ± 0.0029) + (1.90 ± 0.25) × 10^?16[NO₂]}, where the NO₂ concentration is in molecule cm^?3 units. The formation yields of o- and p-nitrotoluene from toluene were ca. 0.07 and 0.35 that of m-nitrotoluene, respectively. The observations that the nitro-aromatic yields do not extrapolate to zero as the NO₂ concentration approaches zero are not consistent with current chemical mechanisms for these OH radical-initiated reactions, and suggest that under the experimental conditions employed in this study the hydroxycyclohexadienyl radicals formed from OH radical addition to the aromatic ring react with NO₂ rather than with O₂. However, these data concerning the nitroaromatic yields are consistent with our previous conclusions that many of the nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons present in ambient air are formed, at least in part, in the atmosphere from OH radical reactions.