Microwave Detection of Interstellar Formic Acid

Zuckerman, B.; Ball, John A.; Gottlieb, C. A.

doi:10.1086/180663

Cited by 130 publications

(77 citation statements)

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“…1,2 Carboxylic acids have biological value and provide an insight into prebiotic organic chemistry in the protoplanetary nebula. 3 Acetic acid is of particular importance due to its structural proximity to glycine, the simplest amino acid.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formic and acetic acids in a nitrogen matrix: Enhanced stability of the higher-energy conformer

Lopes

Domanskaya

Fausto³

et al. 2010

The Journal of Chemical Physics

131

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Formic acid ͑HCOOH, FA͒ and acetic acid ͑CH 3 COOH, AA͒ are studied in a nitrogen matrix. The infrared ͑IR͒ spectra of cis and trans conformers of these carboxylic acids ͑and also of the HCOOD isotopologue of FA͒ are reported and analyzed. The higher-energy cis conformer of these molecules is produced by narrowband near-IR excitation of the more stable trans conformer, and the cis-to-trans tunneling decay is evaluated spectroscopically. The tunneling process in both molecules is found to be substantially slower in a nitrogen matrix than in rare-gas matrices, the cis-form decay constants being approximately 55 and 600 times smaller in a nitrogen matrix than in an argon matrix, for FA and AA respectively. The stabilization of the higher-energy cis conformer is discussed in terms of specific interactions with nitrogen molecule binding with the OH group of the carboxylic acid. This model is in agreement with the observed differences in the IR spectra in nitrogen and argon matrices, in particular, the relative frequencies of the OH and COH modes and the relative intensities of the OH and C v O bands.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formic and acetic acids in a nitrogen matrix: Enhanced stability of the higher-energy conformer

Lopes

Domanskaya

Fausto³

et al. 2010

The Journal of Chemical Physics

131

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“…Among the most exciting species discovered, one may consider the first aldehyde H 2 CO (Snyder et al 1969), the first alcohol CH 3 OH (Ball et al 1970), the first conjugated molecule HC 3 N (Turner 1971), the first acid HCOOH (Zuckerman et al 1971) and the first alkyl cyanide CH 3 CN (Solomon et al 1971). It is also the time when formamide NH 2 CHO, the simplest model of the peptide bond was identified in Sgr B2 (Rubin et al 1971).…”

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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“…All the species studied in this work are astrochemically-relevant and have been identied in the ISM: water was rst detected in 1969 in Sgr B2, Orion, and W49; 41 carbon monoxide was detected in 1970 in Orion; 42 methanol was rst detected in 1970 in Sgr B2; 43 formic acid was detected in 1971 in Sgr B2; 44 acetaldehyde was detected in 1973 in Sgr B2; 45,46 acetic acid was rst detected in 1997 in Sgr B2; 47 and acetone was detected in 1987 in Sgr B2. 48 The astrochemical origin of the species studied here is only well understood in some cases.…”

Section: Astrophysical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 91%

THz and mid-IR spectroscopy of interstellar ice analogs: methyl and carboxylic acid groups

et al. 2014

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A fundamental problem in astrochemistry concerns the synthesis and survival of complex organic molecules (COMs) throughout the process of star and planet formation. While it is generally accepted that most complex molecules and prebiotic species form in the solid phase on icy grain particles, a complete understanding of the formation pathways is still largely lacking. To take full advantage of the enormous number of available THz observations (e.g., Herschel Space Observatory, SOFIA, and ALMA), laboratory analogs must be studied systematically. Here, we present the THz (0.3-7.5 THz; 10-250 cm À1 ) and mid-IR (400-4000 cm À1 ) spectra of astrophysically-relevant species that share the same functional groups, including formic acid (HCOOH) and acetic acid (CH 3 COOH), and acetaldehyde (CH 3 CHO) and acetone ((CH 3 ) 2 CO), compared to more abundant interstellar molecules such as water (H 2 O), methanol (CH 3 OH), and carbon monoxide (CO). A suite of pure and mixed binary ices are discussed. The effects on the spectra due to the composition and the structure of the ice at different temperatures are shown. Our results demonstrate that THz spectra are sensitive to reversible and irreversible transformations within the ice caused by thermal processing, suggesting that THz spectra can be used to study the composition, structure, and thermal history of interstellar ices.Moreover, the THz spectrum of an individual species depends on the functional group(s) within that molecule. Thus, future THz studies of different functional groups will help in characterizing the chemistry and physics of the interstellar medium (ISM).

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Microwave Detection of Interstellar Formic Acid

Cited by 130 publications

References 0 publications

Formic and acetic acids in a nitrogen matrix: Enhanced stability of the higher-energy conformer

Formic and acetic acids in a nitrogen matrix: Enhanced stability of the higher-energy conformer

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

THz and mid-IR spectroscopy of interstellar ice analogs: methyl and carboxylic acid groups

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