A novel synthesis of the N-13 labeled atmospheric trace gas peroxynitric acid

Radioactively labeled trace gases have been successfully used to study heterogeneous chemistry of atmospheric relevance. Here we present a new synthesis of gas-phase peroxynitric acid labeled with N-13 ((HNO4)-N-13) to study the interaction of HNO4 with ice and snow surfaces. A yield of about 30% for HNO4 was determined. The main by-products were HNO3 and HNO2. Exposure of an ice packed bed flow tube to these species revealed that the interaction with the surface scale in the order HNO3 > HNO4 = HNO2 > NO2.