Oil Photooxidation by Sunlight: Role of Reactive Species in the Transformation of Saturated and Aromatic Hydrocarbons

在NSF化学部环境化学科学项目的支持下，毕格罗海洋科学实验室的Christoph Aeppli将研究阳光介导的石油碳氢化合物转化的机制。这一点是相关的，因为光氧化会影响海洋泄漏后石油的命运，从而从根本上改变石油残留物的性质、组成和环境命运。该项目将通过进行一系列实验室辐照实验，提高对石油光化学机理的理解。预计从该项目获得的知识和数据将改善漏油风险和损害评估。该项目还将培养一名博士后研究员和本科生。此外，这个项目的结果和方法将在本科生课程中实施，该项目的结果将通过外展计划传达给更广泛的社区。在具有多个共存竞争路径的复杂石油混合物中，阐明饱和化合物降解的相关路径是具有挑战性的。本项目将对具有三个复杂级别的系统使用逐步方法。首先，将首先使用由明确定义的碳氢化合物混合物组成的模型油来解决基本的机械师问题。其次，将使用石油中天然存在的敏化剂和猝灭剂，在这些模型化合物上系统地测试各种光化学途径。最后，将所获得的知识应用于复杂的石油混合物中发生的复杂过程，目的是构建石油中各种饱和和芳香烃的相关石油光降解过程的一般概念性机制。该项目将采用一种基于二维气相色谱的创新方法来全面量化石油降解，并将开发定量方法来测量石油光产品的形成。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With support from the Environmental Chemical Sciences Program in the Division of Chemistry at NSF, Christoph Aeppli at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences will investigate the mechanism of sunlight-mediated transformation of oil hydrocarbons. This is relevant since photooxidation affects the fate of oil after marine spills, thereby fundamentally altering the properties, composition, and environmental fate of oil residues. This project will improve the mechanistic understanding of oil photochemistry by conducting a series of laboratory irradiation experiments. The knowledge and data expected from this project will improve oil spill risk and damage assessment. This project will also train a postdoctoral researcher and undergraduate students. Furthermore, results and methods from this project will be implemented in undergraduate coursework, and outcomes of this project will be communicated to the broader community through outreach programs.To elucidate the relevant pathway for the degradation of saturated compounds is challenging in the complex mixture of oil with multiple co-occurring competing pathways. This project will use a step-wise approach with systems that have three levels of complexity. First, basic mechanist questions will first be addressed using a model oil consisting of a well-defined mixture of hydrocarbons. Second, various photochemical pathways will be systematically tested on these model compounds using sensitizers and quenchers naturally occurring in petroleum. Lastly, the gained knowledge will then be applied to the complex processes occurring in the complex mixture of petroleum, with the aim to construct a general conceptual mechanism of relevant oil photodegradation processes of the various saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons in oil. This project will employ an innovative method based on two-dimensional gas chromatography for the comprehensive quantification of oil degradation and will develop quantitative methods to measure the formation of oil photoproducts.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.