The interstellar chemistry of C3H and C3H2 isomers

Experimental, theoretical, and astrochemical modelling investigation of the gas-phase reaction between the amidogen radical (NH2) and acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) at low temperatures

The first experimental study of the low-temperature kinetics of the gas-phase reaction of NH2 with acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) has been performed. Experiments were carried out using laser-flash photolysis and laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy to create and monitor the temporal decay of NH2 in the presence of CH3CHO. Low temperatures relevant to the interstellar medium were achieved using a pulsed Laval nozzle expansion. Rate coefficients were measured over the temperature and pressure range of 29-107 K and 1.4-28.2 × 1016 molecules per cm3, with the reaction exhibiting a negative temperature dependence and a positive pressure dependence. The yield of CH3CO from the reaction has also been determined at 67.1 and 35.0 K, by observing OH produced from the reaction of CH3CO with added O2. Ab initio calculations of the potential energy surface (PES) were combined with Rice-Rampsberger-Kessel-Marcus (RRKM) calculations to predict rate coefficients and branching ratios over a broad range of temperatures and pressures. The calculated rate coefficients were shown to be sensitive to the calculated density of states of the stationary points, which in turn are sensitive to the inclusion of hindered rotor potentials for several of the vibrational frequencies. The experimentally determined rate coefficients and yields have been used to fit the calculated PES, from which low-pressure limiting rate coefficients relevant to the ISM were determined. These have been included in a single-point dark cloud astrochemical model, in which the reaction is shown to be a potential source of gas-phase CH3CO radicals under dark cloud conditions.

Thermochemical Trends in Carbon Chain Molecules HC2kH/HC2k-1H (k = 1-6) Studied by Explicitly Correlated CCSD(T)-F12b Composite Methods

We present a composite procedure based on explicitly correlated CCSD(T)-F12 calculations for accurate energetic predictions for carbon chain molecules HC_nH encompassing both the even (HC_2kH) and odd series (HC_2k-1H), with the shorter members playing a key role in the evolution of cosmic carbon compounds in both circumstellar envelopes and interstellar medium. This approach considers the contributions of core-valence correlation, scalar relativistic effect, spin-orbit coupling, and zero-point vibrational energy in an additive manner. The computed ionization energies demonstrate outstanding agreement (±0.07 eV) up to a chain size of k = 6 and the literature heats of formation for k ≤ 2 are reproduced with "chemical accuracy" of 1 kcal mol^-1. Among the various corrections included, the importance of core-valence correlation effect has been highlighted in the thermochemical calculations for carbon chain growth. The thermochemical trend toward infinite length is also highlighted by extrapolation of ionization energy and triplet-singlet splitting at the CCSD(T) level for k up to 15. The correlation between the end-group effect and the even-odd parity effect observed for HC_nH chains has been established with the aid of intrinsic bond orbital localization.

The sulphur saga in TMC-1: Discovery of HCSCN and HCSCCH

We report the detection, for the first time in space, of cyano thioformaldehyde (HCSCN) and propynethial (HCSCCH) towards the starless core TMC-1. Cyano thioformaldehyde presents a series of prominent a- and b-type lines, which are the strongest previously unassigned features in our Q-band line survey of TMC-1. Remarkably, HCSCN is four times more abundant than cyano formaldehyde (HCOCN). On the other hand, HCSCCH is five times less abundant than propynal (HCOCCH). Surprisingly, we find an abundance ratio HCSCCH/HCSCN of ∼ 0.25, in contrast with most other ethynyl-cyanide pairs of molecules for which the CCH-bearing species is more abundant than the CN-bearing one. We discuss the formation of these molecules in terms of neutral-neutral reactions of S atoms with CH2CCH and CH2CN radicals as well as of CCH and CN radicals with H2CS. The calculated abundances for the sulphur-bearing species are, however, significantly below the observed values, which points to an underestimation of the abundance of atomic sulphur in the model or to missing formation reactions, such as ion-neutral reactions.

Cumulene carbenes in TMC-1: Astronomical discovery of l-H2C5 ★

We report the first detection in space of the cumulene carbon chain l-H2C5. A total of eleven rotational transitions, with Jup = 7-10 and Ka = 0 and 1, were detected in TMC-1 in the 31.0-50.4 GHz range using the Yebes 40m radio telescope. We derive a column density of (1.8±0.5)×1010 cm-2. In addition, we report observations of other cumulene carbenes detected previously in TMC-1, to compare their abundances with the newly detected cumulene carbene chain. We find that l-H2C5 is ~4.0 times less abundant than the larger cumulene carbene l-H2C6, while it is ~300 and ~500 times less abundant than the shorter chains l-H2C3 and l-H2C4. We discuss the most likely gas-phase chemical routes to these cumulenes in TMC-1 and stress that chemical kinetics studies able to distinguish between different isomers are needed to shed light on the chemistry of C n H2 isomers with n > 3.

First detection of doubly deuterated methyl acetylene (CHD2CCH and CH2DCCD)★

We report the first detection in space of the two doubly deuterated isotopologues of methyl acetylene. The species CHD2CCH and CH2DCCD were identified in the dense core L483 through nine and eight, respectively, rotational lines in the 72-116 GHz range using the IRAM 30m telescope. The astronomical frequencies observed here were combined with laboratory frequencies from the literature measured in the 29-47 GHz range to derive more accurate spectroscopic parameters for the two isotopologues. We derive beam-averaged column densities of (2.7 ± 0.5) × 1012 cm-2 for CHD2CCH and (2.2 ± 0.4) × 1012 cm-2 for CH2DCCD, which translate to abundance ratios CH3CCH/CHD2CCH = 34 ± 10 and CH3CCH/CH2DCCD = 42 ± 13. The doubly deuterated isotopologues of methyl acetylene are only a few times less abundant than the singly deuterated ones, concretely around 2.4 times less abundant than CH3CCD. The abundances of the different deuterated isotopologues with respect to CH3CCH are reasonably accounted for by a gas-phase chemical model in which deuteration occurs from the precursor ions C3H6D+ and C3H5D+, when the ortho-to-para ratio of molecular hydrogen is sufficiently low. This points to gas-phase chemical reactions, rather than grain-surface processes, as responsible for the formation and deuterium fractionation of CH3CCH in L483. The abundance ratios CH2DCCH/CH3CCD = 3.0 ± 0.9 and CHD2CCH/CH2DCCD = 1.25 ± 0.37 observed in L483 are consistent with the statistically expected values of three and one, respectively, with the slight overabundance of CHD2CCH compared to CH2DCCD being well explained by the chemical model.

Discovery of the propargyl radical (CH2CCH) in TMC-1: one of the most abundant radicals ever found and a key species for cyclization to benzene in cold dark clouds

We present the first identification in interstellar space of the propargyl radical (CH2CCH). This species was observed in the cold dark cloud TMC-1 using the Yebes 40m telescope. The six strongest hyperfine components of the 20,2-10,1 rotational transition, lying at 37.46 GHz, were detected with signal-to-noise ratios in the range 4.6-12.3 σ. We derive a column density of 8.7 × 1013 cm-2 for CH2CCH, which translates to a fractional abundance relative to H2 of 8.7 × 10-9. This radical has a similar abundance to methyl acetylene, with an abundance ratio CH2CCH/CH3CCH close to one. The propargyl radical is thus one of the most abundant radicals detected in TMC-1, and it is probably the most abundant organic radical with a certain chemical complexity ever found in a cold dark cloud. We constructed a gas-phase chemical model and find calculated abundances that agree with, or fall two orders of magnitude below, the observed value depending on the poorly constrained low-temperature reactivity of CH2CCH with neutral atoms. According to the chemical model, the propargyl radical is essentially formed by the C + C2H4 reaction and by the dissociative recombination of C3Hn + ions with n = 4-6. The propargyl radical is believed to control the synthesis of the first aromatic ring in combustion processes, and it probably plays a key role in the synthesis of large organic molecules and cyclization processes to benzene in cold dark clouds.

Gas-phase kinetics of CH3CHO with OH radicals between 11.7 and 177.5 K

Gas-phase reactions in the interstellar medium (ISM) are a source of molecules in this environment. The knowledge of the rate coefficient for neutral-neutral reactions as a function of temperature, k(T), is essential to improve astrochemical models. In this work, we have experimentally measured k(T) for the reaction between the OH radical and acetaldehyde, both present in many sources of the ISM. Laser techniques coupled to a CRESU system were used to perform the kinetic measurements. The obtained modified Arrhenius equation is k(T = 11.7-177.5 K) = (1.2 ± 0.2) × 10-11 (T/300 K)-(1.8±0.1) exp-{(28.7 ± 2.5)/T} cm3 molecule-1 s-1. The k(T) value of the title reaction has been measured for the first time below 60 K. No pressure dependence of k(T) was observed at ca. 21, 50, 64 and 106 K. Finally, a pure gas-phase model indicates that the title reaction could become the main CH3CO formation pathway in dark molecular clouds, assuming that CH3CO is the main reaction product at 10 K.

On an EUV Atmospheric Simulation Chamber to Study the Photochemical Processes of Titan's Atmosphere

The in situ exploration of Titan’s atmosphere requires the development of laboratory experiments to understand the molecular growth pathways initiated by photochemistry in the upper layers of the atmosphere. Key species and dominant reaction pathways are used to feed chemical network models that reproduce the chemical and physical processes of this complex environment. Energetic UV photons initiate highly efficient chemistry by forming reactive species in the ionospheres of the satellite. We present here a laboratory experiment based on a new closed and removable photoreactor coupled here to an Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) irradiation beam produced by the high-order harmonic generation of a femtosecond laser. This type of EUV stable source allow long-term irradiation experiments in which a plethora of individual reactions can take place. In order to demonstrate the validity of our approach, we irradiated for 7 hours at 89.2 nm, a gas mixture based on N₂/CH₄ (5%). Using only one wavelength, products of the reaction reveal an efficient photochemistry with the formation of large hydrocarbons but especially organic compounds rich in nitrogen similar to Titan. Among these nitrogen compounds, new species had never before been identified in the mass spectra obtained in situ in Titan’s atmosphere. Their production in this experiment, on the opposite, corroborates previous experimental measurements in the literature on the chemical composition of aerosol analogues produced in the laboratory. Diazo-compounds such as dimethyldiazene (C₂H₆N₂), have been observed and are consistent with the large nitrogen incorporation observed by the aerosols collector pyrolysis instrument of the Huygens probe. This work represents an important step forward in the use of a closed cell chamber irradiated by the innovative EUV source for the generation of photochemical analogues of Titan aerosols. This approach allows to better constrain and understand the growth pathways of nitrogen incorporation into organic aerosols in Titan’s atmosphere.

A global CHIPR potential energy surface for ground-state C3H and exploratory dynamics studies of reaction C2 + CH → C3 + H

A full-dimensional global potential-energy surface (PES) is first reported for ground-state doublet C₃H using the combined-hyperbolic-inverse-power-representation (CHIPR) method and accurate ab initio energies extrapolated to the complete basis set limit. The PES is based on a many-body expansion-type development where the two-body and three-body energy terms are from our previously reported analytic potentials for C₂H(²A') and C₃(¹A',³A'), while the effective four-body one is calibrated using an extension of the CHIPR formalism for tetratomics. The final form is shown to accurately reproduce all known stationary structures of the PES, some of which are unreported thus far, and their interconversion pathways. Moreover, it warrants by built-in construction the appropriate permutational symmetry and describes in a physically reasonable manner all long-range features and the correct asymptotic behavior at dissociation. Exploratory quasi-classical trajectory calculations for the reaction C₂ + CH → C₃ + H are also performed, yielding thermalized rate coefficients for temperatures up to 4000 K.

Gas-Phase Vibrational Spectroscopy of the Hydrocarbon Cations l-C3H+, HC3H+, and c-C3H2+: Structures, Isomers, and the Influence of Ne-Tagging

We report the first gas-phase vibrational spectra of the hydrocarbon ions C₃H⁺ and C₃H₂⁺. The ions were produced by electron impact ionization of allene. Vibrational spectra of the mass-selected ions tagged with Ne were recorded using infrared predissociation spectroscopy in a cryogenic ion trap instrument using the intense and widely tunable radiation of a free electron laser. Comparison of high-level quantum chemical calculations and resonant depletion measurements revealed that the C₃H⁺ ion is exclusively formed in its most stable linear isomeric form, whereas two isomers were observed for C₃H₂⁺. Bands of the energetically favored cyclic c-C₃H₂⁺ are in excellent agreement with calculated anharmonic frequencies, whereas for the linear open-shell HCCCH⁺ (²Π_g) a detailed theoretical description of the spectrum remains challenging because of Renner–Teller and spin–orbit interactions. Good agreement between theory and experiment, however, is observed for the frequencies of the stretching modes for which an anharmonic treatment was possible. In the case of linear l-C₃H⁺, small but non-negligible effects of the attached Ne on the ion fundamental band positions and the overall spectrum were found.

A sensitive λ 3 mm line survey of L483: A broad view of the chemical composition of a core around a Class 0 object

An exhaustive chemical characterization of dense cores is mandatory to our understanding of chemical composition changes from a starless to a protostellar stage. However, only a few sources have had their molecular composition characterized in detail. Here we present a λ 3 mm line survey of L483, a dense core around a Class 0 protostar, which was observed with the IRAM 30m telescope in the 80-116 GHz frequency range. We detected 71 molecules (140 including different isotopologs), most of which are present in the cold and quiescent ambient cloud according to their narrow lines (FWHM ~0.5 km s-1) and low rotational temperatures (≲10 K). Of particular interest among the detected molecules are the cis isomer of HCOOH, the complex organic molecules HCOOCH3, CH3OCH3, and C2H5OH, a wide variety of carbon chains, nitrogen oxides like N2O, and saturated molecules like CH3SH, in addition to eight new interstellar molecules (HCCO, HCS, HSC, NCCNH+, CNCN, NCO, H2NCO+, and NS+) whose detection has already been reported. In general, fractional molecular abundances in L483 are systematically lower than in TMC-1 (especially for carbon chains), tend to be higher than in L1544 and B1-b, and are similar to those in L1527. Apart from the overabundance of carbon chains in TMC-1, we find that L483 does not have a marked chemical differentiation with respect to starless/prestellar cores like TMC-1 and L1544, although it does chemically differentiate from Class 0 hot corino sources like IRAS 16293-2422. This fact suggests that the chemical composition of the ambient cloud of some Class 0 sources could be largely inherited from the dark cloud starless/prestellar phase. We explore the use of potential chemical evolutionary indicators, such as the HNCO/C3S, SO2/C2S, and CH3SH/C2S ratios, to trace the prestellar/protostellar transition. We also derived isotopic ratios for a variety of molecules, many of which show isotopic ratios close to the values for the local interstellar medium (remarkably all those involving 34S and 33S), while there are also several isotopic anomalies like an extreme depletion in 13C for one of the two isotopologs of c-C3H2, a drastic enrichment in 18O for SO and HNCO (SO being also largely enriched in 17O), and different abundances for the two 13C substituted species of C2H and the two 15N substituted species of N2H+. We report the first detection in space of some minor isotopologs like c-C3D. The exhaustive chemical characterization of L483 presented here, together with similar studies of other prestellar and protostellar sources, should allow us to identify the main factors that regulate the chemical composition of cores along the process of formation of low-mass protostars.

Oxygen fractionation in dense molecular clouds

We have developed the first gas-grain chemical model for oxygen fractionation (also including sulphur fractionation) in dense molecular clouds, demonstrating that gas-phase chemistry generates variable oxygen fractionation levels, with a particularly strong effect for NO, SO, O2, and SO2. This large effect is due to the efficiency of the neutral 18O + NO, 18O + SO, and 18O + O2 exchange reactions. The modeling results were compared to new and existing observed isotopic ratios in a selection of cold cores. The good agreement between model and observations requires that the gas-phase abundance of neutral oxygen atoms is large in the observed regions. The S16O/S18O ratio is predicted to vary substantially over time showing that it can be used as a sensitive chemical proxy for matter evolution in dense molecular clouds.

Rotational (de)-excitation of cyclic and linear C3H2 by collision with He

In astrochemistry, the carbenes c- and l-C₃H₂ are the lightest hydrocarbons to be detectable by rotational spectroscopy. We compute their interaction energy with helium atoms and the collisional quenching rates.

Ab Initio Potential Energy Surfaces of C3 Collision with Proton and Quantum Dynamics of Rotational Transition

New ab initio potential energy surfaces have been generated for the ground state and low-lying excited states of the H⁺ + C₃ system using the multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) method with Dunning's augmented correlation consistent polarized valence quadruple-zeta (aug-cc-pVQZ) basis sets. The ground state and low-lying excited states show avoided crossing, indicating nonadiabatic coupling. The anisotropy of the ground-state surface has been analyzed by computing the multipolar expansion coefficients with the frozen C-C equilibrium bond length. The asymptotic potential has been merged with the interaction potential by spline fit. This potential is then used in the full close coupling calculations of rotational excitation in C₃ collision with the proton for rotational levels j = 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 at very low collision energy. By averaging the cross sections over a Boltzmann distribution of velocities of the incoming atom, we obtain and discuss corresponding rate coefficients of C₃ collision with the proton in the interstellar medium.

Isomer-specific detection in the UV photodissociation of the propargyl radical by chirped-pulse mm-wave spectroscopy in a pulsed quasi-uniform flow

Isomer-specific detection and product branching fractions in the UV photodissociation of the propargyl radical is achieved through the use of chirped-pulse Fourier-transform mm-wave spectroscopy in a pulsed quasi-uniform flow (CPUF). Propargyl radicals are produced in the 193 nm photodissociation of 1,2-butadiene. Absorption of a second photon leads to H atom elimination giving three possible C₃H₂ isomers: singlets cyclopropenylidene (c-C₃H₂) and propadienylidene (l-C₃H₂), and triplet propargylene (³HCCCH). The singlet products and their appearance kinetics in the flow are directly determined by rotational spectroscopy, but due to the negligible dipole moment of propargylene, it is not directly monitored. However, we exploit the time-dependent kinetics of H-atom catalyzed isomerization to infer the branching to propargylene as well. We obtain the overall branching among H loss channels to be 2.9% (+1.1/-0.5) l-C₃H₂ + H, 16.8% (+3.2/-1.3) c-C₃H₂ + H, and 80.2 (+1.8/-4.2) ³HCCCH + H. Our findings are qualitatively consistent with earlier RRKM calculations in that the major channel in the photodissociation of the propargyl radical at 193 nm is to ³HCCCH + H; however, a greater contribution to the energetically most favorable isomer, c-C₃H₂ + H is observed in this work. We do not detect the predicted HCCC + H₂ channel, but place an upper bound on its yield of 1%.

Valence shell threshold photoelectron spectroscopy of C3Hx (x = 0–3)

We present the photoelectron spectra of C₃H_x (x = 0–3) formed in a microwave discharge flow-tube reactor by consecutive H abstractions from C₃H₄ (C₃H_x + F → C₃H_x−1 + HF (x = 1–4)), but also from F + CH₄ schemes by secondary reactions.