Peroxyacetyl nitrate, or PAN for shorthand, is an organic compound consisting of oxygen, and nitrogen as well as a short hydrocarbon chain. It is a principle secondary pollutant in photochemical smog. PAN is both toxic and irritating. At very low concentrations of only a few parts per billion it causes eye irritation. Plants are very sensitive: a fraction of 1ppm causes extensive damage to vegetation.
The formula for one such example of PAN is CH3-COO-O-NO2, and consists of a hydrocarbon, nitrogen dioxide, ester and ether group. The formula could be written as C2H3NO5.
Peroxyacyl nitrates, or PANs, are powerful respiratory and eye irritants present in photochemical smog.
They are formed from a peroxyacid radical and nitrogen dioxide, for example peroxyacetylnitrate, CH PANs are both toxic and irritating, as they dissolve more readily in water than ozone.
Free radical reactions catalyzed by ultraviolet light from the sun oxidize unburned hydrocarbons to aldehydes, carboxylic acids, and finally peroxyacids, which combine with nitrogen dioxide to form peroxyacyl nitrates.
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