Related papers: Interstellar formamide (NH$_2$CHO), a key prebioti…
Gas and dust in the Galactic Center are subjected to energetic processing by intense UV radiation fields, widespread shocks, enhanced rates of cosmic-rays and X-rays, and strong magnetic fields. The Giant Molecular Clouds in the Galactic…
Interstellar hydrides -- that is, molecules containing a single heavy element atom with one or more hydrogen atoms -- were among the first molecules detected outside the solar system. They lie at the root of interstellar chemistry, being…
Gas-phase hydroxylamine (NH$_2$OH) has recently been detected within dense clouds in the interstellar medium. However, it is also likely present within interstellar ices, as well as on the icy surfaces of outer Solar System bodies, where it…
Context. The carbamoyl radical (H2NCO) is believed to play a central role in the ice-grain chemistry of crucial interstellar complex organic molecules as formamide and acetamide. Yet, little is known about this radical that remains elusive…
The detection of organic molecules with increasing complexity and potential biological relevance is opening the possibility to understand the formation of the building blocks of life in the interstellar medium. One of the families of…
The chemical compounds carrying the thiol group (-SH) have been considered essential in recent prebiotic studies regarding the polymerization of amino acids. We have searched for this kind of compounds toward the Galactic Centre quiescent…
Chemistry plays a particular role in astrophysics. After atomic hydrogen, helium and their ions, the Universe probably contains more mass in molecules than in any other species. Molecule formation in the early, pre-galactic Universe may…
In order to examine how the terrestrial life emerged, a number of laboratory experiments have been conducted since the 1950s. Methane has been one of the key molecules in these studies. In earlier studies, strongly reducing gas mixtures…
Context. The chemical evolution of formamide (HCONH2), a molecule of astrobiological interest that has been tentatively identified in interstellar ices and in cometary coma, has been studied in laboratory under simulated astrophysical…
In the interstellar medium, formic acid (HCOOH) plays a significant role in the synthesis of the simplest amino acid, glycine (NH$_{2}$CH$_{2}$COOH). The presence of HCOOH suggests that oxygen-bearing molecules may be directly involved in…
The detection of the amino acid glycine and its amine precursor methylamine on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by the Rosetta mission provides strong evidence for a cosmic origin of prebiotics on Earth. How and when such complex organic…
Aqueous chemistry within carbonaceous planetesimals is promising for synthesizing prebiotic organic matter essential to all life. Meteorites derived from these planetesimals delivered these life building blocks to the early Earth,…
In this review we explore aspects of the field of astrobiology from an astronomical viewpoint. We therefore focus on the origin of life in the context of planetary formation, with additional emphasis on tracing the most abundant volatile…
We have studied four complex organic molecules (COMs), methyl formate ($CH_3OCHO$), dimethyl ether ($CH_3OCH_3$), formamide ($NH_2CHO$), and ethyl cyanide ($C_2H_5CN$), towards a large sample of 39 high-mass star-forming regions…
Some atmospheric gases have been proposed as counter indicators to the presence of life on an exoplanet if remotely detectable at sufficient abundance (i.e., antibiosignatures), informing the search for biosignatures and potentially…
Molecular oxygen has been confirmed as the fourth most abundant molecule in cometary material O$_2$/H$_2$O $\sim 4$ %) and is thought to have a primordial nature, i.e., coming from the interstellar cloud from which our solar system was…
In astrochemistry, computational methods play a crucial role in addressing fundamental astronomical questions. Interstellar molecules profoundly influence the chemistry and physics of the interstellar medium (ISM), playing pivotal roles in…
Cell membranes are a key element of life because they keep the genetic material and metabolic machinery together. All present cell membranes are made of phospholipids, yet the nature of the first membranes and the origin of phospholipids…
Molecules are ubiquitous in space. They are necessary component in the creation of habitable planetary systems and can provide the basic building blocks of life. Solid-state processes are pivotal in the formation of molecules in space and…
This work aims to constrain the abundances of interstellar amides, by searching for this group of prebiotic molecules in the intermediate-mass protostar Serpens SMM1-a. ALMA observations are conducted toward Serpens SMM1. A spectrum is…