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Aerosol-forming reactions of glyoxal, methylglyoxal and amino acids in clouds.

David O. De Haan (1,2), Margaret A. Tolbert (2,3), Jose L. Jimenez (2.3), Kyle W. Smith (1), Daniel R. Stroik (1), Ashley L. Corrigan (1), Frances E. Lee (1), Joanne T. Phan (1), Amanda C. Conley (1)

(1) Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of San Diego, (2) CIRES (3) Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, CU

Glyoxal and methylglyoxal are two common aldehydes present in fog and cloud water. Amino acids are present in clouds at similar concentrations. Here we present bulk and aerosol mass spectroscopic data demonstrating that irreversible reactions between glyoxal and amino acids, triggered by droplet evaporation, produce N-derivatized imidazole compounds along with deeply colored Maillard reaction products. These reactions can occur in the dark and in the absence of oxidants. Reactions between methylglyoxal and amino acids produce analogous methylated products plus oligomers with masses up to m/z = 1000. These reactions, which go to completion on the 10-min-timescale of cloud processing, could be significant sources of secondary organic aerosol and humic-like substances (HULIS or brown carbon).