Related papers: Propionamide (C2H5CONH2): The largest peptide-like…
Interstellar amides have attracted significant attentions as they are potential precursors for a wide variety of organics essential to life. However, our current understanding of their formation in space is heavily based on observations in…
The discovery of amino acids in meteorites and the detection of glycine in samples returned from a comet to Earth suggest that the interstellar chemistry is capable of producing such complex organic molecules. Our goal is to investigate the…
Amino acids are building-blocks of proteins, basic constituents of all organisms and essential to life on Earth. They are present in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites and comets, but their origin is still unknown. Formation of amino acids…
Circumstellar envelopes (CEs) around evolved stars are an active site for the production of molecules. After evolving through the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB), proto-planetary nebula (PPN), to planetary nebula (PN) phases, CEs ultimately…
In the interstellar cold gas, the chemistry of formaldehyde (H$_2$CO) can be essential to explain the formation of complex organic molecules. On this matter, the massive and energetic protostellar object G331 is still unexplored and, hence,…
Formamide (NH2CHO) is considered an important prebiotic molecule because of its potential to form peptide bonds. It was recently detected in the atmosphere of the HH 212 protostellar disk on the Solar-System scale where planets will form.…
The chemistry of phosphorus (31P) in space is particularly significant due to the key role it plays in biochemistry on Earth. Utilising radio and infrared spectroscopic observations, several key phosphorus-containing molecules have been…
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,…
Context: Modern versions of the Miller-Urey experiment claim that formamide (NH$_2$CHO) could be the starting point for the formation of metabolic and genetic macromolecules. Intriguingly, formamide is indeed observed in regions forming…
We present the first detection in space of thionylimide (HNSO) toward the Galactic Center molecular cloud G+0.693-0.027, thanks to the superb sensitivity of an ultradeep molecular line survey carried out with the Yebes 40$\,$m and IRAM…
In the interstellar medium (ISM), the complex prebiotic molecule cyanamide (NH$_{2}$CN) plays a key role in producing adenine (C$_{5}$H$_{5}$N$_{5}$), purines (C$_{5}$H$_{4}$N$_{4}$), pyrimidines (C$_{4}$H$_{4}$N$_{2}$), and other…
The cyano radical (CN), one of the first detected interstellar molecular species, is a key molecule in many astrochemical chains. Particularly, it is detected towards molecular cores, the birth places of the stars, and it is known that it…
A ring of dense molecular gas extending 2-7 pc orbits the supermassive black hole Sgr A* at the center of our Galaxy. Using the Green Bank Telescope, we detected water maser lines and both narrow (0.35 km/s) and broad (30 - 50 km/s)…
Glycine-the simplest amino acid-has remained undetected in the interstellar medium despite decades of sensitive searches, motivating alternative approaches to constrain its astrochemical origin. A promising strategy is to investigate the…
Glycolaldehyde is a key molecule in the formation of biologically relevant molecules such as ribose. We report its detection with the Plateau de Bure interferometer towards the Class 0 young stellar object NGC1333 IRAS2A, which is only the…
We investigate the structure of the core surrounding the recently identified deeply embedded young stellar object Barnard 1c which has an unusual polarization pattern as traced in submillimeter dust emission. Barnard 1c lies within the…
We have performed reaction product screening measurements using broadband rotational spectroscopy to identify rotational transition matches between laboratory spectra and the Green Bank Telescope PRIMOS radio astronomy survey spectra in…
The detection E-cyanomethanimine (E-HNCHCN) towards Sagittarius B2(N) is made by comparing the publicly available Green Bank Telescope (GBT) PRIMOS survey spectra (Hollis et al.) to laboratory rotational spectra from a reaction product…
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…
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…