Chemical mechanism development

Within the German Troposheric Research Programme (TFS) numerous kinetic and mechanistic studies on the tropospheric reaction / degradation of the following reactants were carried out: - oxygenated VOC - aromatic VOC - biogenic VOC - short-lived intermediates, such as alkoxy and alkylperoxy radicals. At the conception of the projects these selected groups were classes of VOC or intermediates for which the atmospheric oxidation mechanisms were either poorly characterised or totally unknown. The motivation for these studies was the attainment of significant improvements in our understanding of the atmospheric chemical oxidation processes of these compounds, particularly with respect to their involvement in photooxidant formation in the troposphere.