Related papers: Interstellar dimethyl ether gas-phase formation: a…
Characterizing the chemistry of complex organic molecules (COMs) at the epoch of planet formation provides insights into the chemical evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM) and the origin of organic materials in our Solar System. We…
The recent discovery of methyl formate and dimethyl ether in the gas phase of cold cores with temperatures as cold as 10 K challenges our previous astrochemical models concerning the formation of complex organic molecules. The strong…
Determining the level of chemical complexity within dense starless and gravitationally bound prestellar cores is crucial for constructing chemical models, which subsequently constrain the initial chemical conditions of star formation. We…
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.…
The deuterium fractionation of gas-phase molecules in hot cores is believed to reflect the composition of interstellar ices. The deuteration of methanol is a major puzzle, however, because the isotopologue ratio [CH2DOH]/[CH3OD], which is…
We present an extensive review of gas phase reactions producing methylacetylene and propene showing that these relatively abundant unsaturated hydrocarbons cannot be synthesized through gas-phase reactions. We explain the formation of…
[Abridged] Ethylene oxide and its isomer acetaldehyde are important complex organic molecules because of their potential role in the formation of amino acids. Despite the fact that acetaldehyde is ubiquitous in the interstellar medium,…
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…
We survey the current situation regarding chemical modelling of the synthesis of molecules in the interstellar medium. The present state of knowledge concerning the rate coefficients and their uncertainties for the major gas-phase processes…
Recent interstellar detections include a significant number of molecules containing vinyl (C2H3) and ethyl (C2H5) groups in their structure. For several of these molecules, there is not a clear experimental or theoretical evidence that…
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…
Gas-phase processes were long thought to be the key formation mechanisms for complex organic molecules in star-forming regions. However, recent experimental and theoretical evidence has cast doubt on the efficiency of such processes.…
In the last years, ultra-low temperature chemical kinetic experiments have demonstrated that some gas-phase reactions are much faster than previously thought. One example is the reaction between OH and CH3OH, which has been recently found…
While astrochemical models are successful in reproducing many of the observed interstellar species, they have been struggling to explain the observed abundances of complex organic molecules. Current models tend to privilege grain surface…
Despite its potential reactivity due to ring strain, ethylene oxide (c-C2H4O) is a complex molecule that seems to be stable under the physical conditions of an interstellar dense core; indeed it has been detected towards several high-mass…
Silicon monosulfide is an important silicon bearing molecule detected in circumstellar envelopes and star forming regions. Its formation and destruction routes are not well understood, partially due to the lack of a detailed knowledge on…
Many chemical models of dense interstellar clouds predict that the majority of gas-phase elemental nitrogen should be present as N2, with an abundance approximately five orders of magnitude less than that of hydrogen. As a homonuclear…
Context. The presence of dust in the interstellar medium has profound consequences on the chemical composition of regions where stars are forming. Recent observations show that many species formed onto dust are populating the gas phase,…
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…
Atomic oxygen in its first excited singlet state, O(1 D), is an important species in the photochemistry of several planetary atmospheres and has been predicted to be a potentially important reactive species on interstellar ices. Here, we…