Related papers: Constraining the Environment of CH+ Formation with…
Context. The chemistry of the diffuse interstellar medium rests upon three pillars: exothermic ion-neutral reactions (" cold chemistry "), endothermic neutral-neutral reactions with significant activation barriers (" warm chemistry "), and…
Methyl cyanide is one of the simplest interstellar complex organic molecules, widely detected in young solar analogues, shocked regions, protoplanetary disks and comets. CH3CN can be considered a key species to explore the chemical…
CO2 is one of the dominant components of the interstellar ice. Recent observations show CO2 exists more abundantly in polar (H2O-dominated) ice than in apolar (H2O-poor) ice. CO2 ice formation is primarily attributed to the reaction between…
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…
Ions (e.g., H$_3^+$, H$_2$O$^+$) have been used extensively to quantify the cosmic-ray ionization rate (CRIR) in diffuse sightlines. However, measurements of CRIR in low-to-intermediate density gas environments are rare, especially when…
Ethanolamine (NH2CH2CH2OH) has recently been identified in the molecular cloud G+0.693-0.027, situated in the SgrB2 complex in the Galactic center. However, its presence in other regions, and in particular in star-forming sites, is still…
Gas-phase complex organic molecules have been detected toward a range of high- and low-mass star-forming regions at abundances which cannot be explained by any known gas-phase chemistry. Recent laboratory experiments show that UV…
Grain-surface chemistry plays a crucial role in the formation of molecules of astrobiological interest, including H$_{2}$S and complex organic molecules (COMs). They are commonly observed in the gas phase toward star-forming regions, but…
We have performed experimental investigations of methanol formation via the reactions of low energy $CH_{3}^{+}$ ions with an amorphous solid water (ASW) surface around 10 K. A newly developed experimental apparatus enabled irradiation of…
We review the reactions involving HCN and HNC in dark molecular clouds to elucidate new chemical sources and sinks of these isomers. We find that the most important reactions for the HCN-HNC system are Dissociative Recombination (DR)…
Observations of H3+ in the Galactic diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) have led to various surprising results, including the conclusion that the cosmic-ray ionization rate (zeta_2) is about 1 order of magnitude larger than previously…
A rich inventory of complex organic molecules (COMs) has been observed in high abundances in the gas phase toward Class 0 protostars. These molecules are suggested to be formed in ices and sublimate in the warm inner envelope close to the…
We present experimental results obtained from photoionization and photodissociation processes of abundant interstellar methanol (CH$_3$OH) as an alternative route for the production of H$_3^+$ in dense clouds. The measurements were taken at…
A prevailing theory for the interstellar production of complex organic molecules (COMs) involves formation on warm dust-grain surfaces, via the diffusion and reaction of radicals produced through grain-surface photodissociation of stable…
Observations of CH$^+$ are used to trace the physical properties of diffuse clouds, but this requires an accurate understanding of the underlying CH$^+$ chemistry. Until this work, the most uncertain reaction in that chemistry was…
We revise the rates of reactions CH + S -> CS + H and C_2 + S -> CS + C, important CS formation routes in dark and diffuse warm gas. We performed ab initio calculations to characterize the main features of all the electronic states…
We present experimental constraints on the insertion of oxygen atoms into methane to form methanol in astrophysical ice analogs. In gas-phase and theoretical studies this process has previously been demonstrated to have a very low or…
The physical conditions in a collapsing cloud can be traced by observations of molecular lines. To correctly interpret these observations the abundance distributions of the observed species need to be derived. The chemistry in a collapsing…
Up to 90% of the chemical reactions during star formation occurs on ice surfaces, probably including the formation of complex organics. Only the most abundant ice species are however observed directly by infrared spectroscopy. This study…
The aim of this study is to investigate systematic chemical differentiation of molecules in regions of high mass star formation. We observed five prominent sites of high mass star formation in HCN, HNC, HCO+, their isotopes, C18O, C34S and…