Related papers: Microscopic simulation of methanol and formaldehyd…
Formaldehyde is a key precursor in the formation routes of many complex organic molecules (COMs) in space. It is also an intermediate step in CO hydrogenation sequence that leads to methanol formation on the surface of interstellar grains…
Hydrogenation reactions of CO in inter- and circumstellar ices are regarded as an important starting point in the formation of more complex species. Previous laboratory measurements by two groups on the hydrogenation of CO ices resulted in…
This study focuses on the formation of two molecules of astrobiological importance - glycolaldehyde (HC(O)CH2OH) and ethylene glycol (H2C(OH)CH2OH) - by surface hydrogenation of CO molecules. Our experiments aim at simulating the CO…
Glycoaldehyde, ethylene glycol, and methyl formate are complex organic molecules that have been observed in dark molecular clouds. Because there is no efficient gas-phase route to produce these species, it is expected that a low-temperature…
Methanol and formaldehyde are two simple organic molecules that are ubiquitously detected in the interstellar medium. An origin in the solid phase and a subsequent nonthermal desorption into the gas phase is often invoked to explain their…
The formation of methanol (CH3OH) on icy grain mantles during the star formation cycle is mainly associated with the CO freeze-out stage. Yet there are reasons to believe that CH3OH also can form at an earlier period of interstellar ice…
The successive addition of H atoms to CO in the solid phase has been hitherto regarded as the primary route to form methanol in dark molecular clouds. However, recent Monte Carlo simulations of interstellar ices alternatively suggested the…
Context. Recent Monte Carlo simulations and laboratory studies of interstellar ices have proposed an alternative pathway involving the radical-molecule H-atom abstraction reaction in the overall mechanism of methanol (CH3OH) formation in…
The simultaneous detection of organic molecules of the form C$_2$H$_{\text{n}}$O, such as ketene (CH$_2$CO), acetaldehyde (CH$_3$CHO), and ethanol (CH$_3$CH$_2$OH), toward early star-forming regions offers hints of shared chemical history.…
Methanol is the most complex molecule securely identified in interstellar ices and is a key chemical species for understanding chemical complexity in astrophysical environments. Important aspects of the methanol ice photochemistry are still…
Context. In dense clouds, hydrogenation reactions on icy dust grains are key in the formation of molecules, like formaldehyde, methanol, and complex organic molecules (COMs). These species form through the sequential hydrogenation of CO…
Simple and complex organic molecules (COMs) are observed along different phases of star and planet formation and have been successfully identified in prestellar environments such as dark and translucent clouds. Yet the picture of organic…
Icy interstellar dust grains are a source of complex organic molecule (COM) production, although their formation mechanisms are debated. Laboratory experiments show that atomic C deposited onto interstellar ice analogs can react with…
Solid state astrochemical reaction pathways have the potential to link the formation of small nitrogen-bearing species, like NH3 and HNCO, and prebiotic molecules, specifically amino acids. To date, the chemical origin of such small…
We investigate the formation and evolution of interstellar dust-grain ices under dark-cloud conditions, with a particular emphasis on CO2. We use a three-phase model (gas/surface/mantle) to simulate the coupled gas--grain chemistry,…
Methane is one of the simplest stable molecules that is both abundant and widely distributed across space. It is thought to have partial origin from interstellar molecular clouds, which are near the beginning of the star formation cycle.…
We have developed a model for molecular hydrogen formation under astrophysically relevant conditions. This model takes fully into account the presence of both physisorbed and chemisorbed sites on the surface, allows quantum mechanical…
1-propanol (CH3CH2CH2OH) is a three carbon-bearing representative of primary linear alcohols that may have its origin in the cold dark cores in interstellar space. To test this, we investigated in the laboratory whether 1-propanol ice can…
Ice chemistry in the dense, cold interstellar medium (ISM) is probably responsible for the formation of interstellar complex organic molecules (COMs). Recent laboratory experiments performed at T=4 K have shown that irradiation of CO:N2 ice…
Methoxymethanol (CH3OCH2OH, MM) has been identified through gas-phase signatures in both high- and low-mass star-forming regions. This molecule is expected to form upon hydrogen addition and abstraction reactions in CO-rich ice through…