We present the first census of the interstellar Complex Organic Molecules (iCOMs) in the low-mass Class I protostar SVS13-A, obtained by analysing data from the IRAM-30m Large Project ASAI (Astrochemical Surveys At IRAM). They consist of an high-sensitivity unbiased spectral survey at the 1mm, 2mm and 3mm IRAM bands. We detected five iCOMs: acetaldehyde (CH 3 CHO), methyl formate (HCOOCH 3 ), dimethyl ether (CH 3 OCH 3 ), ethanol (CH 3 CH 2 OH) and formamide (NH 2 CHO). In addition we searched for other iCOMs and ketene (H 2 CCO), formic acid (HCOOH) and methoxy (CH 3 O), whose only ketene was detected. The numerous detected lines, from 5 to 37 depending on the species, cover a large upper level energy range, between 15 and 254 K. This allowed us to carry out a rotational diagram analysis and derive rotational temperatures between 35 and 110 K, and column densities between 3 × 10 15 and 1 × 10 17 cm −2 on the 0. 3 size previously determined by interferometric observations of glycolaldehyde. These new observations clearly demonstrate the presence of a rich chemistry in the hot corino towards SVS13-A. The measured iCOMs abundances were compared to other Class 0 and I hot corinos, as well as comets, previously published in the literature. We find evidence that (i) SVS13-A is as chemically rich as younger Class 0 protostars, and (ii) the iCOMs relative abundances do not substantially evolve during the protostellar phase.

Evidence is mounting that the small bodies of our Solar System, such as comets and asteroids, have at least partially inherited their chemical composition from the first phases of the Solar System formation. It then appears that the molecular complexity of these small bodies is most likely related to the earliest stages of star formation. It is therefore important to characterize and to understand how the chemical evolution changes with solar-type protostellar evolution. We present here the Large Program "Astrochemical Surveys At IRAM" (ASAI). Its goal is to carry out unbiased millimeter line surveys between 80 and 272 GHz of a sample of ten template sources, which fully cover the first stages of the formation process of solar-type stars, from prestellar cores to the late protostellar phase. In this article, we present an overview of the surveys and results obtained from the analysis of the 3 mm band observations. The number of detected main isotopic species barely varies with the evolutionary stage and is found to be very similar to that of massive star-forming regions. The molecular content in O- and C- bearing species allows us to define two chemical classes of envelopes, whose composition is dominated by either a) a rich content in O-rich complex organic molecules, associated with hot corino sources, or b) a rich content in hydrocarbons, typical of Warm Carbon Chain Chemistry sources. Overall, a high chemical richness is found to be present already in the initial phases of solar-type star formation.

Context. Intermediate-mass (IM) protostars provide a bridge between the low- and high-mass protostars. Despite their relevance, little is known about their chemical diversity. Aims. We want to investigate the molecular richness towards the envelope of I-M protostars and to compare their properties with those of low- and high-mass sources. Methods. We have selected the isolated IM Class 0 protostar Cep E-mm to carry out an unbiased molecular survey with the IRAM 30 m telescope between 72 and 350 GHz with an angular resolution lying in the range 7–34″. Our goal is to obtain a census of the chemical content of the protostellar envelope. These data were complemented with NOEMA observations of the spectral bands 85.9–89.6 GHz and 216.8–220.4 GHz at angular resolutions of 2.3″ and 1.4″, respectively. Results. The 30 m spectra show bright emission of O- and N-bearing complex organic molecules (COMs): CH3OH and its rare isotopologues CH2DOH and 13CH3OH, CH3CHO, CH3OCH3, CH3COCH3, HCOOH, HCOOCH3, H2CCO, NH2CHO, CH3CN, C2H3CN, C2H5CN, HNCO and H2CO. We identify up to three components in the spectral signature of COMs: an extremely broad line (eBL) component associated with the outflowing gas (FWHM > 7kms−1), a narrow line (NL) component (FWHM < 3kms−1) associated with the cold envelope, and a broad line (BL) component (FWHM ≃ 5.5kms−1) which traces the signature of a hot corino. The eBL and NL components are detected only in molecular transitions of low excitation and dominate the emission of CH3OH. The BL component is detected in highly excited gas (Eup > 100 K). The NOEMA observations reveal Cep E-mm as a binary protostellar system, whose components, Cep E-A and Cep E-B, are separated by ≈1.7″. Cep E-A dominates the core continuum emission and powers the long-studied, well-known, high-velocity jet associated with HH377. The lower flux source Cep E-B powers another high-velocity molecular jet, reaching velocities of ≈80 km s−1, which propagates in a direction close to perpendicular with respect to the Cep E-A jet. Our interferometric maps show that the emission of COMs arises from a region of ≈0.7″ size around Cep E-A, and corresponds to the BL component detected with the IRAM 30 m telescope. On the contrary, no COM emission is detected towards Cep E-B. We have determined the rotational temperature (Trot) and the molecular gas column densities from a simple population diagram analysis or assuming a given excitation temperature. Rotational temperatures of COMs emission were found to lie in the range 20−40 K with column densities ranging from a few times 1015 cm−2 for O-bearing species, down to a few times 1014 cm−2 for N-bearing species. Molecular abundances are similar to those measured towards other low- and intermediate-mass protostars. Ketene (H2CCO) appears as an exception, as it is found significantly more abundant towards Cep E-A. High-mass hot cores are significantly less abundant in methanol and N-bearing species are more abundant by two to three orders of magnitude. Conclusions. Cep E-mm reveals itself as a binary protostellar system with a strong chemical differentiation between both cores. Only the brightest component of the binary is associated with a hot corino. Its properties are similar to those of low-mass hot corinos.