The formation of peptide-like molecules on interstellar dust grains

Ligterink, N. F. W.; Scheltinga, Jeroen Terwisscha van; Taquet, V.; Jørgensen, J. K.; Cazaux, S.; Dishoeck, E. F. van; Linnartz, H.

doi:10.1093/mnras/sty2066

Cited by 71 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 80 publications

(132 reference statements)

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“…However, such a connection contradicts the results of experimental works, which show that solid-state HNCO hydrogenation does not produce NH 2 CHO (Noble et al 2015). A similar conclusion is reached by Ligterink et al (2018) who find that HNCO is likely not at the basis of the formation of NH 2 CHO but rather formed simultaneously. Finally, a gas-phase formation route for NH 2 CHO via reactions between NH 2 and H 2 CO has also been proposed (Barone et al 2015;Codella et al 2017).…”

Section: Comparison With Chemical Modelsmentioning

confidence: 72%

Molecular complexity on disc scales uncovered by ALMA

Bøgelund

Barr

Taquet

et al. 2019

A&A

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Context. The chemical composition of high-mass protostars reflects the physical evolution associated with different stages of star formation. In addition, the spatial distribution and velocity structure of different molecular species provide valuable information on the physical structure of these embedded objects. Despite an increasing number of interferometric studies, there is still a high demand for high angular resolution data to study chemical compositions and velocity structures for these objects. Aims. The molecular inventory of the forming high-mass star AFGL 4176, located at a distance of ~3.7 kpc, is studied in detail at a high angular resolution of ~0.35′′, equivalent to ~1285 au at the distance of AFGL 4176. This high resolution makes it possible to separate the emission associated with the inner hot envelope and disc around the forming star from that of its cool outer envelope. The composition of AFGL 4176 is compared with other high- and low-mass sources, and placed in the broader context of star formation. Methods. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) the chemical inventory of AFGL 4176 has been characterised. The high sensitivity of ALMA made it possible to identify weak and optically thin lines and allowed for many isotopologues to be detected, providing a more complete and accurate inventory of the source. For the detected species, excitation temperatures in the range 120–320 K were determined and column densities were derived assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium and using optically thin lines. The spatial distribution of a number of species was studied. Results. A total of 23 different molecular species and their isotopologues are detected in the spectrum towards AFGL 4176. The most abundant species is methanol (CH3OH) with a column density of 5.5 × 1018 cm−2 in a beam of ~0.3′′, derived from its 13C-isotopologue. The remaining species are present at levels between 0.003 and 15% with respect to methanol. Hints that N-bearing species peak slightly closer to the location of the peak continuum emission than the O-bearing species are seen. A single species, propyne (CH3C2H), displays a double-peaked distribution. Conclusions. AFGL 4176 comprises a rich chemical inventory including many complex species present on disc scales. On average, the derived column density ratios, with respect to methanol, of O-bearing species are higher than those derived for N-bearing species by a factor of three. This may indicate that AFGL 4176 is a relatively young source since nitrogen chemistry generally takes longer to evolve in the gas phase. Taking methanol as a reference, the composition of AFGL 4176 more closely resembles that of the low-mass protostar IRAS 16293–2422B than that of high-mass, star-forming regions located near the Galactic centre. This similarity hints that the chemical composition of complex species is already set in the cold cloud stage and implies that AFGL 4176 is a young source whose chemical composition has not yet been strongly processed by the central protostar.

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Section: Comparison With Chemical Modelsmentioning

confidence: 72%

Molecular complexity on disc scales uncovered by ALMA

Bøgelund

Barr

Taquet

et al. 2019

A&A

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“…9,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] Finally, models based on the "exclusive grain-surface"paradigm are unable to reproduce the observed abundance of several iCOMs (e.g. [33][34][35] ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reactivity of HCO with CH₃ and NH₂ on Water Ice Surfaces. A Comprehensive Accurate Quantum Chemistry Study

Enrique-Romero

Rimola

Ceccarelli

et al. 2019

ACS Earth Space Chem.

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Interstellar complex organic molecules (iCOMs) can be loosely defined as chemical compounds with at least six atoms in which at least one is carbon. The observations of iCOMs in star-forming regions have shown that they contain an important fraction of 1 arXiv:1909.12686v1 [astro-ph.SR] 27 Sep 2019 carbon in a molecular form, which can be used to synthesize more complex, even biotic molecules. Hence, iCOMs are major actors in the increasing molecular complexity in space and they might have played a role in the origin of terrestrial life. Understanding how iCOMs are formed is relevant for predicting the ultimate organic chemistry reached in the interstellar medium. One possibility is that they are synthesized on the interstellar grain icy surfaces, via recombination of previously formed radicals. The present work focuses on the reactivity of HCO with CH 3 /NH 2 on the grain icy surfaces, investigated by means of quantum chemical simulations. The goal is to carry out a systematic study using different computational approaches and models for the icy surfaces. Specifically, DFT computations have been bench-marked with CASPT2 and CCSD(T) methods, and the ice mantles have been mimicked with cluster models of 1, 2, 18 and 33 H 2 O molecules, in which different reaction sites have been considered.Our results indicate that the HCO + CH 3 /NH 2 reactions, if they actually occur, have two major competitive channels: the formation of iCOMs CH 3 CHO/NH 2 CHO, or the formation of CO + CH 4 /NH 3 . These two channels are either barrierless or present relatively low (≤ 10 kJ/mol equal to about 1200 K) energy barriers. Finally, we briefly discuss the astrophysical implications of these findings.

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“…Very recently, propanal and prebiotically relevant 1-propanol could be synthesized at a temperature of 10 K by Qasim et al (2019). The formation of peptide-like molecules, which are possible precursors of amino acids, were synthesized in CH 4 :HNCO ice mixtures upon UV processing (Ligterink et al 2018).…”

Section: Processing Of Grains and Reactions On Grain Surfacesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laboratory experiments on cosmic dust and ices

et al. 2019

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The existence of cosmic dust is attested by the interstellar extinction and polarization, IR emission and absorption spectra, and elemental depletion patterns. Dust grains are efficiently processed or even destroyed in shocks, molecular clouds, or protoplanetary disks. A considerable amount of dust has to be re-formed in the ISM. In various astrophysical environments, dust grains are covered by molecular ices and therefore contribute or catalytically influence the chemical reactions in these layers. Laboratory experiments are desperately required to understand the evolution of grains and grain/ice mixtures in molecular clouds and early planetary disks. This review considers recent progress in laboratory approaches to dust/ice experiments.

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The formation of peptide-like molecules on interstellar dust grains

Cited by 71 publications

References 80 publications

Molecular complexity on disc scales uncovered by ALMA

Molecular complexity on disc scales uncovered by ALMA

Reactivity of HCO with CH₃ and NH₂ on Water Ice Surfaces. A Comprehensive Accurate Quantum Chemistry Study

Laboratory experiments on cosmic dust and ices

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The formation of peptide-like molecules on interstellar dust grains

Cited by 71 publications

References 80 publications

Molecular complexity on disc scales uncovered by ALMA

Molecular complexity on disc scales uncovered by ALMA

Reactivity of HCO with CH3 and NH2 on Water Ice Surfaces. A Comprehensive Accurate Quantum Chemistry Study

Laboratory experiments on cosmic dust and ices

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Reactivity of HCO with CH₃ and NH₂ on Water Ice Surfaces. A Comprehensive Accurate Quantum Chemistry Study