Halogen oxides: Radicals, sources and reservoirs in the laboratory and in the atmosphere

The central topic of this review concerns the species XO, where X is F, Cl, Br or I. These molecules are thus the radicals FO, ClO, BrO and IO, but attention is also given to some of their precursors in the laboratory and the atmosphere, as well as to their reservoirs, sinks, and other related species of potential atmospheric importance. Laboratory data on the physics and chemistry of the species and atmospheric determinations of their concentrations are both considered. One aim of the review is to highlight the relationship between the laboratory investigations and the atmospheric studies. The emphasis of the review is on gas-phase processes. After a brief introductory section, the review continues with an examination of laboratory techniques for the study of the halogen-oxide species. This section fast looks at the general properties of the oxides and sources of them for laboratory experiments, then discusses the detection and measurement of the monoxide radicals in the laboratory, and ends with a description of the kinetic tools that have been harnessed in the various studies. The spectroscopy, structure, photochemistry and thermochemistry, of the halogen oxides are discussed in Section III. Both experimental and theoretical aspects are presented. The objectives of the work described are on the one hand to establish the basis for the detection of the radical and the measurement of its concentration in the laboratory and in the atmosphere, and on the other to provide the framework for interpreting pathways, mechanisms and efficiencies of photochemical and thermal reactions. Sections IV, V and VI of the review address the main issues of observed chemistry and its kinetics. Section IV gathers together available kinetic and mechanistic information on gas-phase reactions of FO, ClO, BrO and IO radicals, and the available data are summarized in appropriate tables. Section V reports on the corresponding data available for the gas-phase reactions of certain species containing the XO grouping, which include most of the so-called atmospheric reservoirs of XO radicals. There are three sub-sections, which deal in turn with oxide species, HOX, and XONO 2. Heterogeneous processes are introduced in Section VI. Heterogeneous chemistry in the atmosphere is that which occurs on or in ambient condensed phases that are in contact with the gas phase, such as aerosols, clouds, surface waters, and so on. It is becoming increasingly clear that such processes are of importance