Searches for new interstellar molecules, including a tentative detection of aziridine and a possible detection of propenal

Rotational spectroscopy at millimeter wavelengths is a powerful means of investigating the chemistry of dense interstellar clouds. These regions can exhibit an interesting complement of gas phase molecules, including relatively complex organics. Here we report the tentative first astronomical detection of aziridine (ethylenimine), the possible detection of propenal (acrolein), and upper limits on the abundances of cyclopropenone, furan, hydroxyethanal (glycolaldehyde), thiohydroxylamine (NH2SH), and ethenol (vinyl alcohol) in various interstellar clouds.

Interstellar ices as a source of CN-bearing molecules in protoplanetary disks

A reliable model for the composition and evolution of interstellar ices in regions of active star formation is fundamental to our quest to determine the organic inventory of planetesimals in the early Solar System. This has become a realistic goal since the launch of the Infrared Space Observatory, which provides a facility for infrared spectroscopy unhindered by telluric absorption over the entire spectral range of vibrational modes in solids of exobiological interest. Interstellar molecules detected in the solid phase to date include H2O, NH3, CO, CO2, CH3OH, CH4, H2CO, OCS and HCOOH, together with a C identical to N-bonded absorber generically termed 'XCN'. In this article, we focus on cosmic synthesis of CN-bearing species, as this important class of prebiotic molecules may not have formed endogenously in significant quantities on early Earth if conditions were not highly reducing. Experiments in which interstellar ice analogs are subject to UV photolysis or energetic ion bombardment yield CN-rich residues with a spectral signature that matches a corresponding feature observed in young protostars enshrouded in dust and gas. CN-bearing species are also present in cometary ices, with a combined abundance comparable to the lower end of the range observed in protostars. Energetic processing of interstellar ices is thus a viable and potentially significant source of CN compounds in protoplanetary disks.

Chemistry of the organic-rich hot core G327.3-0.6

We present gas-phase abundances of species found in the organic-rich hot core G327.3-0.6. The data were taken with the Swedish-ESO Submillimetre Telescope (SEST). The 1-3 mm spectrum of this source is dominated by emission features of nitrile species and saturated organics, with abundances greater than those found in many other hot cores, including Sgr B2 and OMC-1. Population diagram analysis indicates that many species (CH3CN, C2H3CN, C2H5CN, CH3OH, etc.) have hot components that originate in a compact (~2") region. Gas-phase chemical models cannot reproduce the high abundances of these molecules found in hot cores, and we suggest that they originate from processing and evaporation of icy grain mantle material. In addition, we report the first detection of vibrationally excited ethyl cyanide and the first detection of methyl mercaptan (CH3SH) outside the Galactic center.

Abundances of ethylene oxide and acetaldehyde in hot molecular cloud cores

We have searched for millimetre-wave line emission from ethylene oxide (c-C2H4O) and its structural isomer acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) in 11 molecular clouds using SEST. Ethylene oxide and acetaldehyde were detected through multiple lines in the hot cores NGC 6334F, G327.3-0.6, G31.41+0.31, and G34.3+0.2. Acetaldehyde was also detected towards G10.47+0.03, G322.2+0.6, and Orion 3'N, and one ethylene oxide line was tentatively detected in G10.47+0.03. Column densities and rotational excitation temperatures were derived using a procedure which fits the observed line intensifies by finding the minimum chi 2-value. The resulting rotational excitation temperatures of ethylene oxide and acetaldehyde are in the range 16-38 K, indicating that these species are excited in the outer, cooler parts of the hot cores or that the excitation is significantly subthermal. For an assumed source size of 20", the deduced column densities are (0.6-1)x10(14) cm-2 for ethylene oxide and (2-5)x10(14) cm-2 for acetaldehyde. The fractional abundances with respect to H2 are X[c-C2H4O]=(2-6)xl0(-10), and X[CH3CHO]=(0.8-3)x10(-9). The ratio X[CH3CHO]/X[c-C2H4O] varies between 2.6 (NGC 6334F) and 8.5 (G327.3-0.6). We also detected and analysed multiple transitions of CH3OH, CH3OCH3, C2H5OH, and HCOOH. The chemical, and possibly evolutionary, states of NGC 6334F, G327.3-0.6, G31.41+0.31, and G34.3+0.2 seem to be very similar.

Detection of interstellar ethylene oxide (c-C2H4O)

We report the identification of 10 transitions that support the detection of the small cyclic molecule ethylene oxide (c-C2H4O) in Sgr B2N. Although one of these transitions is severely blended, so that an accurate intensity and line width could not be determined, and two other lines are only marginally detected, we have done Gaussian fits to the remaining seven lines and have performed a rotation diagram analysis. Our results indicate a rotation temperature T(rot) = 18 K and a molecular column density N(c-C2H4O) = 3.3 x 10(14) cm-2, corresponding to a fractional abundance relative to molecular hydrogen of order 6 x 10(-11). This is a factor of more than 200 higher than the abundance for this molecule suggested by the "new standard" chemistry model of Lee, Bettens, & Herbst. This result suggests that grain chemistry might play an effective role in the production of c-C2H4O. No transitions of this molecule were detected in either Sgr B2M or Sgr B2NW.