Abstract. Organic peroxides, important species in the atmosphere, will promote secondary organic aerosols (SOA) aging, affect HOx radicals cycling, and cause adverse health effects. However, the formation, gas-particle partitioning, and evolution of organic peroxides are extremely complicated and still unclear. In this study, we investigate in the laboratory the production and gas-particle partitioning of peroxides from the ozonolysis of α-pinene, which is one of the major biogenic volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere and is an important precursor for SOA at a global scale. We have determined the molar yields of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hydroxymethyl hydroperoxide (HMHP), peroxyformic acid (PFA), peroxyacetic acid (PAA) and total peroxides (TPO, including unknown peroxides) and the fraction of peroxides in SOA. Comparing the gas-phase and particle-phase peroxides, we find that gas-particle partitioning coefficients of PFA and PAA are 104 times higher than theoretical prediction, indicating that organic peroxides play a more important role in the SOA formation than expected previously. Here, we give the partitioning coefficients of TPO as (2–3) × 10-4 m3μg-1. Even so, more than 80 % of the peroxides formed in the reaction remain in the gas phase. Water does not affect the total amount of peroxides in either the gas or particle phase, but can change the distribution of gaseous peroxides. About 18 % gaseous peroxides undergo rapid heterogeneous decomposition on SOA particles in the presence of water vapor, resulting in the additional production of H2O2. This process can partially interpret the unexpected high H2O2 yield under wet conditions. Transformation of organic peroxides to H2O2 also saves OH in the atmosphere, helping to improve the understanding of OH cycling.