Cyclopropenone (c‐H<sub>2</sub>C<sub>3</sub>O): A New Interstellar Ring Molecule

Hollis, J. M.; Remijan, Anthony J.; Jewell, P. R.; Lovas, F. J.

doi:10.1086/501121

Cited by 110 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Among the extra-solar objects, the Galactic Center Molecular Clouds (Requena-Torres et al 2006;Hollis et al 2006a), Hot Cores (Ikeda et al 2001) and Hot Corinos (Bottinelli et al 2007) are particularly rich in COMs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new weapon for the interstellar complex organic molecule hunt: the minimum energy principle

Lattelais¹,

Pauzat²,

Ellinger³

et al. 2010

A&A

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Context. The hunt for the interstellar complex organic molecules (COMs) supposed to be the building blocks of the molecules at the origin of life is a challenging but very expensive task. It starts with laboratory experiments, associated with theoretical calculations, that give the line frequencies and strengths of the relevant molecules to be identified and finishes with observations at the telescopes. Aims. The present study aims to suggest possible guidelines to optimize this hunt. Levering on the minimum energy principle (MEP) presented in a previous study, we discuss the link between thermodynamic stability and detectability of a number of structures in the important families of amides, sugars and aminonitriles. Methods. The question of the relative stability of these different species is addressed by means of quantum density functional theory simulations. The hybrid B3LYP formalism was used throughout. All 72 molecules part of this survey were treated on an equal footing. Each structure, fully optimized, was verified to be a stationary point by vibrational analysis. Results. A comprehensive screening of 72 isomers of CH 3 NO, C 2 H 5 NO, C 3 H 7 NO, C 2 H 4 O 2 , C 3 H 6 O 3 and C 2 H 4 N 2 chemical formula has been carried out. We found that formamide, acetamide and propanamide (the first two identified in the Inter-Stellar Medium) are the most stable compounds in their families demonstrating at the same time that the peptide bond >N-C=O at the origin of life is the most stable bond that can be formed. Dihydroxyacetone, whose detection awaits for confirmation, is far from being the most stable isomer of its family while aminoacetonitrile, that has been recently identified, is effectively the most stable species. Conclusions. The MEP appears to be a useful tool for optimizing the hunt for new species by identifying the potentially more abundant isomers of a given chemical formula.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new weapon for the interstellar complex organic molecule hunt: the minimum energy principle

Lattelais¹,

Pauzat²,

Ellinger³

et al. 2010

A&A

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“…An analysis of these four rotational transitions yields a glycolaldehyde state temperature of ∼8 K (Hollis et al 2004a) that is probably characteristic of the cold halo region surrounding the LMH. Other large molecules that have been detected predominantly in absorption toward Sgr B2(N-LMH) with the GBT by means of transitions between low-energy levels include propenal (CH 2 CHCHO; Hollis et al 2004b), propanal (CH 3 CH 2 CHO; Hollis et al 2004b), acetamide (CH 3 CONH 2 ; Hollis et al 2006a), and cyclopropenone (c-H 2 C 3 O; Hollis et al 2006b). It is important to note that other molecular sources observed with the GBT, such as the dark cloud TMC-1 or the IRC ϩ10Њ216 circumstellar nebula, show no measurable continuum in the spectrometer bandpass.…”

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confidence: 99%

Nonthermal Continuum toward Sagittarius B2(N-LMH)

Hollis¹,

Jewell²,

Remijan³

et al. 2007

ApJ

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An analysis of continuum antenna temperatures observed in the GBT spectrometer bandpasses is presented for observations toward Sgr B2(N-LMH). Since 2004, we have identified four new prebiotic molecules toward this source by means of rotational transitions between low-energy levels; concurrently, we have observed significant continuum in GBT spectrometer bandpasses centered at 85 different frequencies in the range 1-48 GHz. The continuum heavily influences the molecular spectral features since we have observed far more absorption lines than emission lines for each of these new molecular species. Hence, it is important to understand the nature, distribution, and intensity of the underlying continuum in the GBT bandpasses for the purposes of radiative transfer, i.e., the means by which reliable molecular abundances are estimated. We find that the GBT spectrometer bandpass continuum is consistent with optically thin, nonthermal (synchrotron) emission with a flux density spectral index of Ϫ0.7 and a Gaussian source size of ∼143Љ at 1 GHz that decreases with increasing frequency as . Some support for this model is provided by high-frequency VLA observations of Sgr B2. The north source in Sgr B2, i.e., Sgr B2(N), is a giant star-forming region that lies along the Galactic equator near the center of our Galaxy. There is another strong molecular source ∼60Љ to the south of this position known as the main in Sgr B2, i.e., Sgr B2(M), that can influence molecular detections toward Sgr B2(N) if the telescope beam is large. Both Sgr B2(N) and Sgr B2(M) contain molecular maser-emitting spots, ultracompact H ii continuum sources, compact hot molecular cores of arcsecond dimensions, extended H ii regions, and cold extended molecular regions of arcminute dimensions. In addition, small-scale and large-scale shock phenomena pervade this region (e.g., Chengalur & Kanekar 2003). In Sgr B2(N), the hot molecular core known as the LMH (Large Molecule Heimat) has been a primary source that has been searched for millimeter-wave rotational transitions between high-energy levels for species that are found in emission and confined to its ∼5Љ diameter. For example, from interferometric observations, the emission from high-energy transitions of methyl formate (CH 3 OCHO; Snyder et al. 2002) is seen largely confined to the LMH core. High-energy transitions of methanol (CH 3 OH) are also confined to the LMH hot core, and they were used by Pei et al. (2000) to derive a rotational temperature of K that is usually assumed to characterize other large 170 ‫ע‬ 13 molecules in the core.On the other hand, recent observations with the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) toward Sgr B2(N-LMH) indicate that the molecular halo surrounding the LMH is a rich source of an entirely different set of large complex molecules. In this cold halo region, transitions between low-energy levels of large interstellar molecules tend to occur in the frequency range 1-48 GHz. For example, glycolaldehyde (CH 2 OHCHO) was first detected in this region with the GBT by means o...

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“…The discovery of complex organic molecules such as cyclopropenone (c-H 2 C 3 O; Hollis et al 2006), its possible precursor cyclopropenylidene, (c-C 3 H 2 ; Thaddeus et al 1985;Sakai et al 2014), and glycoaldehyde (Carroll et al 2010) in interstellar medium has increased interest into the explanation of their controversial formation. Cyclopropenone is surprisingly stable despite its ring strain (Staley et al 1987) due to the electron delocalization of the carbon-oxygen double bond, making it the simplest aromatic molecule (Krebs 1965).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cyclopropenone was discovered within the star-forming region Sagittarius B2(N), by tracking rotational transitions between energy levels with less than 10 K energy content (Hollis et al 2006). Therefore, only low rotational energy levels of c-H 2 C 3 O were populated, corresponding to low temperatures and densities likely found in Sagittarius B2(N).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SPIN-FORBIDDEN AND SPIN-ALLOWED CYCLOPROPENONE (c-H₂C₃O) FORMATION IN INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM

Ahmadvand

Zaari

Varganov

2014

ApJ

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Three proposed mechanisms of cyclopropenone (c-H 2 C 3 O) formation from neutral species are studied using highlevel electronic structure methods in combination with nonadiabatic transition state and collision theories to deduce the likelihood of each reaction mechanism under interstellar conditions. The spin-forbidden reaction involving the singlet electronic state of cyclopenylidene (c-C 3 H 2 ) and the triplet state of atomic oxygen is studied using nonadiabatic transition state theory to predict the rate constant for c-H 2 C 3 O formation. The spin-allowed reactions of c-C 3 H 2 with molecular oxygen and acetylene with carbon monoxide were also investigated. The reaction involving the ground electronic states of acetylene and carbon monoxide has a very large reaction barrier and is unlikely to contribute to c-H 2 C 3 O formation in interstellar medium. The spin-forbidden reaction of c-C 3 H 2 with atomic oxygen, despite the high probability of nonadiabatic transition between the triplet and singlet states, was found to have a very small rate constant due to the presence of a small (3.8 kcal mol −1 ) reaction barrier. In contrast, the spin-allowed reaction between c-C 3 H 2 and molecular oxygen is found to be barrierless, and therefore can be an important path to the formation of c-H 2 C 3 O molecule in interstellar environment.

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Cyclopropenone (c‐H₂C₃O): A New Interstellar Ring Molecule

Cited by 110 publications

References 45 publications

A new weapon for the interstellar complex organic molecule hunt: the minimum energy principle

A new weapon for the interstellar complex organic molecule hunt: the minimum energy principle

Nonthermal Continuum toward Sagittarius B2(N-LMH)

SPIN-FORBIDDEN AND SPIN-ALLOWED CYCLOPROPENONE (c-H₂C₃O) FORMATION IN INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM

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Cyclopropenone (c‐H2C3O): A New Interstellar Ring Molecule

Cited by 110 publications

References 45 publications

A new weapon for the interstellar complex organic molecule hunt: the minimum energy principle

A new weapon for the interstellar complex organic molecule hunt: the minimum energy principle

Nonthermal Continuum toward Sagittarius B2(N-LMH)

SPIN-FORBIDDEN AND SPIN-ALLOWED CYCLOPROPENONE (c-H2C3O) FORMATION IN INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Cyclopropenone (c‐H₂C₃O): A New Interstellar Ring Molecule

SPIN-FORBIDDEN AND SPIN-ALLOWED CYCLOPROPENONE (c-H₂C₃O) FORMATION IN INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM