Related papers: Functionalization of Benzene Ices by Atomic Oxygen
Aromatic structures are fundamental for key biological molecules such as RNA and metabolites and the abundances of aromatic molecules on young planets are therefore of high interest. Recent detections of benzonitrile and other aromatic…
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…
Oxygen atom addition and insertion reactions may provide a pathway to chemical complexity in ices that are too cold for radicals to diffuse and react. We have studied the ice-phase reactions of photo-produced oxygen atoms with C2…
[Abridged] The detection of abundant O$_{2}$ ice at 1-10% with respect to H$_{2}$O ice in the comae of comets 1P/Halley and 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko motivated attempts to explain the origin of the high O$_{2}$ ice abundance. Recent…
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…
The aromatic molecule benzene is considered the essential building block for larger polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in space. Despite benzene's importance in the formation of PAHs, the formation mechanisms of interstellar benzene…
The low temperature reaction between CN and benzene (C$_6$H$_6$) is of significant interest in the astrochemical community due to the recent detection of benzonitrile, the first aromatic molecule identified in the interstellar medium (ISM)…
The mobility of O atoms at very low temperatures is not generally taken into account, despite O diffusion would add to a series of processes leading to the observed rich molecular diversity in space. We present a study of the mobility and…
Molecular oxygen has been detected in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko with a mean abundance of 3.80 $\pm$ 0.85\% by the ROSINA mass spectrometer on board the Rosetta spacecraft. To account for the presence of this species in…
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…
Comets, asteroids, and other small bodies are thought to be remnants of the original planetesimal population of the Solar System. As such, their physical, chemical, and isotopic properties hold crucial details on how and where they formed…
The simultaneous detection of organic molecules of the form C$_2$H$_{\text{n}}$O, such as ketene (CH$_2$CO), acetaldehyde (CH$_3$CHO), and ethanol (CH$_3$CH$_2$OH), toward early star-forming regions offers hints of shared chemical history.…
Recent observations made by the Rosetta/ROSINA instrument have detected molecular oxygen in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko with abundances at the 1-10% level relative to H2O. Previous studies have indicated that the likely…
Small organic molecules are thought to provide building blocks for the formation of complex interstellar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). However, the underlying chemical mechanisms remain unclear, particularly concerning the role…
In cold molecular clouds, UV photolysis of icy grain mantles generates radicals that lead to new molecule formation. When radical diffusion is limited by low temperatures, oxygen atom addition and insertion reactions, enabled by photolysis…
Icy interstellar dust grains are a source of complex organic molecule (COM) production, although their formation mechanisms are debated. Laboratory experiments show that atomic C deposited onto interstellar ice analogs can react with…
New observing capabilities coming online over the next few years will provide opportunities for characterization of exoplanet atmospheres. However, clouds/hazes could be present in the atmospheres of many exoplanets, muting the amplitude of…
Aromaticity is a common chemical functionalities in bioactive molecules. In interstellar and circumstellar environments benzene and other small aromatics are considered the precursor for more complex prebiotic molecules and they have shown…
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…
Recent work by Kocheril \textit{et al.}\cite{kocheril2025} claimed that phenylium--the cyclic structure of the \ce{C6H5+} species--is unreactive toward key interstellar molecules such as molecular hydrogen (\ce{H2}) and acetylene…