ATMOSPHERIC REACTIONS OF THE ALKANES

Project No. A-58

Leaders:     D. C. Baker
                  J. C. Ball

Scope and Objective

The objective of this project is to prepare a comprehensive inventory of fundamental data and information on the atmospheric reactions of the alkanes in a format suitable for publication as a reference textbook. 

Current Status and Future Program

This project was developed during 2004 as an extension of similar related work conducted by CRC under the direction of Dr. Jack Calvert, Mechanisms of Atmospheric Oxidation of the Alkenes (A-15) and The Mechanisms of Atmospheric Oxidation of Aromatics Hydrocarbons (A-27).

Projects A-15 (2000) and A-27 (2002) resulted in publication of books by Oxford University Press (OUP). The book developed under Project A-58 is entitled Mechanisms of Atmospheric Oxidation of the Alkanes. CRC arranged financial support for authorships by Drs. Jack Calvert (consultant), Tim Wallington (Ford), John Orlando (UCAR), Geoffrey Tyndall (UCAR), and Richard Derwent (consultant).  Ford and UCAR provided additional resources to support this effort and the consultants, Drs. Calvert and Derwent, also arranged for additional outside support. Project A-58 includes book chapters on:

1. Importance of Alkanes in Atmospheric Chemistry of the Urban, Regional, and Global Scales
2. Reactions of the Alkanes with the Hydroxy Radical (OH)
3. Kinetics and Mechanisms of Reactions of Cl, O(3P), NO3, and O3 with Alkanes
4. Mechanisms and End-Products of the Atmospheric Oxidation of Alkanes
5. Reactions of Oxidation Products of the Alkanes
6. Atmospheric Chemistry of the Haloalkanes
7. The Primary Photochemical Processes in the Alkanes, Haloalkanes, and Some of Their Oxidation Products
8. Representation of the Atmospheric Chemistry of Alkanes in Models

The final manuscript was approved following committee technical review, CRC editorial review, and an external review conducted by consultant, Dr. Steve Japar. The final manuscript was submitted to CRC in electronic format as the Final Report deliverable under this project in 2007.  Dr. Jack Calvert and the other authors worked with Oxford University Press (OUP) to convert the manuscript to book form. The publisher contract was arranged through CRC.  The final page proofs from OUP were received April 2008 and returned for publication.  Release of the book from OUP was announced in August 2008.

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