Related papers: Identification of pre-biotic molecules containing …

Aims. The comparative study of several molecular species at the origin of the gas phase chemistry in the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) is a key input in unraveling the coupled chemical and dynamical evolution of the ISM. Methods. The…

Carbon ($^3$P) atom is a reactive species that, according to laboratory experiments and theoretical calculations, condensates with interstellar ice components. This fact is of uttermost importance for the chemistry in the interstellar…

As a work in progress, results from a chemical and physical analysis of molecular cores in early evolutionary stages concerning star formation are presented. Using archival data from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), a sample of 37…

We consider six isomeric groups (CH3N, CH5N, C2H5N, C2H7N, C3H7N and C3H9N) to review the presence of amines and aldimines within the interstellar medium (ISM). Each of these groups contains at least one aldimine or amine. Methanimine…

(Abridged) Complex organic molecules (COMs) are considered essential precursors to prebiotic species. While COMs were once expected to be efficiently destroyed under UV-irradiated conditions, detections in photodissociation regions (PDRs)…

Straight-chain (normal-propyl cyanide, n - C3H7CN) and branched-chain (iso-propyl cyanide, i - C3H7CN) alkyl cyanides are recently identified in the massive star-forming regions (Sgr B2(N) and Orion). These branched-chain molecules indicate…

The isocyanic acid (HNCO) presents an extended distribution in the centers of the Milky Way and the spiral galaxy IC342. Based on the morphology of the emission and the HNCO abundance with respect to H2, several authors made the hypothesis…

The HIFI instrument on board the Herschel Space Observatory has been used to observe interstellar nitrogen hydrides along the sight-line towards G10.6-0.4 in order to improve our understanding of the interstellar chemistry of nitrogen. We…

Complex organic molecules are readily detected in the inner regions of the gaseous envelopes of forming protostars. In particular, molecules that contain nitrogen are interesting due to the role nitrogen plays in the development of life and…

We investigate the molecular gas properties of the deeply obscured luminous infrared galaxy NGC 4418. We address the excitation of the complex molecule HC3N to determine whether its unusually luminous emission is related to the nature of…

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…

Methanol and its precursor formaldehyde are among the most studied organic molecules in the interstellar medium and are abundant in the gaseous and solid phases. We recently developed a model to simulate CO hydrogenation via H atoms on…

It is not known whether the original carriers of Earth's nitrogen were molecular ices or refractory dust. To investigate this question, we have used data and results of Herschel observations towards two protostellar sources: the high-mass…

How complex organic - and potentially prebiotic - molecules are formed in regions of low- and high-mass star-formation remains a central question in astrochemistry. In particular, with just a few sources studied in detail, it is unclear…

In recent astrochemical studies it has become crucial to study all the complete conformational panorama of the molecule, some of which are potentially detectable in the interstellar medium (ISM). In this context, the isomeric ratio can be…

Current gas phase models do not account for the abundances of HNCO isomers detected in various environments, suggesting a formation in icy grain mantles. We attempted to study a formation channel of HNCO and its possible isomers by…

We present high-spatial-resolution (0.7 to 1.0 arcsec) submillimeter observations of continuum and molecular lines of CH3OCHO, CH3OCH3, and H2CCO toward 11 high-mass star-forming regions using the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre…

Massive star-forming regions exhibit an extremely rich and diverse chemistry, which in principle provides a wealth of molecular probes, as well as laboratories for interstellar prebiotic chemistry. Since the chemical structure of these…

We study the astrochemical diagnostics of the isolated massive protostar G28.20-0.05. We analyze data from ALMA 1.3~mm observations with resolution of 0.2 arcsec ($\sim$1,000 au). We detect emission from a wealth of species, including…

Searches for the prebiotically-relevant cyanamide (NH$_2$CN) towards solar-type protostars have not been reported in the literature. We here present the first detection of this species in the warm gas surrounding two solar-type protostars,…