Abstract
AbstractDespite the high stability of bulk water, water microdroplets possess strikingly different properties, such as the presence of hydroxyl radicals (OH⋅) at the air–water interface. Previous studies exhibited the recombination of OH⋅ into H2O2 molecules and the capture of OH⋅ by oxidizing other molecules. By spraying pure water microdroplets into a mass spectrometer, we detected OH⋅ in the form of (H4O2)+ that is essentially OH⋅−H3O+, a hydroxyl radical combined with a hydronium cation through hydrogen bonding. We also successfully captured it with two OH⋅ scavengers, caffeine and melatonin, and key oxidation radical intermediates that bear important mechanistic information were seen. It is suggested that some previous reactions involving (H4O2)+ should be attributed to reactions with OH⋅−H3O+ rather than with the water dimer cation (H2O−OH2)+.
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