The OH-initiated
degradation of 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol [CH
3
C(NH
2
)(CH
3
)CH
2
OH, AMP] was
investigated in a large atmospheric simulation chamber, employing
time-resolved online high-resolution proton-transfer reaction-time-of-flight
mass spectrometry (PTR-ToF-MS) and chemical analysis of aerosol online
PTR-ToF-MS (CHARON-PTR-ToF-MS) instrumentation, and by theoretical
calculations based on M06-2X/aug-cc-pVTZ quantum chemistry results
and master equation modeling of the pivotal reaction steps. The quantum
chemistry calculations reproduce the experimental rate coefficient
of the AMP + OH reaction, aligning
k
(
T
) = 5.2 × 10
–12
× exp (505/
T
) cm
3
molecule
–1
s
–1
to the experimental value
k
exp,300K
=
2.8 × 10
–11
cm
3
molecule
–1
s
–1
. The theoretical calculations predict that
the AMP + OH reaction proceeds via hydrogen abstraction from the −CH
3
groups (5–10%), −CH
2
– group,
(>70%) and −NH
2
group (5–20%), whereas
hydrogen
abstraction from the −OH group can be disregarded under atmospheric
conditions. A detailed mechanism for atmospheric AMP degradation was
obtained as part of the theoretical study. The photo-oxidation experiments
show 2-amino-2-methylpropanal [CH
3
C(NH
2
)(CH
3
)CHO] as the major gas-phase product and propan-2-imine [(CH
3
)
2
C=NH], 2-iminopropanol [(CH
3
)(CH
2
OH)C=NH], acetamide [CH
3
C(O)NH
2
], formaldehyde (CH
2
O), and nitramine 2-methyl-2-(nitroamino)-1-propanol
[AMPNO
2
, CH
3
C(CH
3
)(NHNO
2
)CH
2
OH] as minor primary products; there is no experimental
evidence of nitrosamine formation. The branching in the initial H
abstraction by OH radicals was derived in analyses of the temporal
gas-phase product profiles to be
B
CH
3
/
B
CH
2
/
B
NH
2
= 6:70:24. Secondary photo-oxidation products
and products resulting from particle and surface processing of the
primary gas-phase products were also observed and quantified. All
the photo-oxidation experiments were accompanied by extensive particle
formation that was initiated by the reaction of AMP with nitric acid
and that mainly consisted of this salt. Minor amounts of the gas-phase
photo-...