The Millimeter‐ and Submillimeter‐Wave Spectrum of Oxiranecarbonitrile

Behnke, Markus; Medvedev, Ivan R.; Winnewisser, M.; Lucia, Frank C. De; Herbst, Eric

doi:10.1086/382530

Cited by 12 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…That the -C≡N group does not increase E Ads significantly is a consequence of its orientation outward the ice surface. Spectroscopic data have been obtained for this species (Müller & Bauder 1996;Behnke et al 2004).…”

Section: Target Visibility and Adsorptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The quest of chirality in the interstellar medium

Ellinger

Pauzat

Markovits

et al. 2020

A&A

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Context. All but one complex organic molecule (COM) detected so far in the interstellar medium (ISM) are achiral; propylene oxide (c-C2H3O)-CH3 is the only exception to this. Finding other chiral species is a priority for astrobiology to progress in the understanding of the emergence of life. Whatever the conditions of their formation, i.e., gas phase or grain chemistry, the detection relies on rotational spectra. This means that, if adsorbed after formation in the gas phase or directly formed on the icy grains, these COMs must escape in the gas phase as free flyers to be detectable. Aims. Learning the lesson drawn from the only observation of a chiral compound and considering the structural constraints imposed to a molecule to be chiral, we look at what species could satisfy these conditions and be potential targets for a radio astronomy search in the ISM gas phase. Methods. This question was addressed by combining two complementary approaches that rely on density functional theory. The structure, energetics, and spectroscopic parameters of each potential candidate were determined using molecular calculations. The propensity for a molecule to remain trapped on the ice coating of the grains was evaluated by numerical simulations making use of a solid state periodic model. Results. Replacing the -CH3 group on rigid propylene oxide by -CN, -CCH, -NH2, -OH, or -HCO gives oxirane daughter molecules whose adsorption energies divide into two classes: below and above the adsorption energy of H2O on solid water-ice ~13.5 kcal mol−1. Conclusions. The best chiral candidate would be a rigid molecule for an easier determination of its radio spectra. This molecule would be composed of a central carbon linked to one hydrogen and three different chemical groups as simple as possible. If not the most stable isomer, this candidate should be as close as possible on the energy scale, possess a significant dipole moment, and be less strongly attached to the ice than H2O itself.

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Section: Target Visibility and Adsorptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The quest of chirality in the interstellar medium

Ellinger

Pauzat

Markovits

et al. 2020

A&A

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“…In Table 2 we present the observed transitions. In addition, according to recent spectroscopic work by Behnke et al (2004), at least two transitions of the large cyclic molecule oxiranecarbonitrile (c-C 3 H 3 NO) are covered as well and are included in Table 2. This molecule is a possible precursor of racemic ribose 2,4-diphosphate, an important component of RNA, and can be expected to be present in hot cores (Dickens et al 1996).…”

Section: Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A search for pre-biotic molecules in hot cores

Wirström¹,

Bergman

Nummelin

2007

A&A

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Aims. Our aim is to better understand the complex chemistry of organic molecules in the interstellar medium, leading to the formation of pre-biotic molecules such as amino acids. Methods. We have performed a search for the pre-biotic molecules amino acetonitrile (H 2 N CH 2 CN) and vinyl acetylene (C 2 H 3 CCH) towards four northern hot core sources using the Onsala 20 m telescope. Results. We have determined upper limits to the column density of amino acetonitrile (1-4 × 10 13 cm −2 ) and vinyl acetylene (2-7 × 10 14 cm −2 ) in the observed sources. In addition, from the absence of other lines within the observed frequency band, we have further constrained the column density of oxiranecarbonitrile (c-C 3 H 3 NO) and amino-ethanol (NH 2 CH 2 CH 2 OH) in these sources.

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“…Our laboratory has studied their spectra in some detail in recent years, focusing especially on molecules somewhat more complex than those typically studied in hot cores and corinos, such as ethyl methyl ether [C 2 H 5 OCH 3 ] (Fuchs et al 2003), diethyl ether [C 2 H 5 OC 2 H 5 ] 1 Also Departments of Astronomy and Chemistry. ( Medvedev et al 2003, ethyl formate [ HCOOC 2 H 5 ] (Medvedev et al 2006), oxiranecarbonitrile [c-C 3 H 3 NO;] (Behnke et al 2004), normal propanol [n-CH 3 CH 2 CH 2 OH] (Maeda et al 2006a), and iso-propanol [(CH 3 ) 2 CHOH] (Maeda et al 2006b). Although we have not studied the laboratory spectrum of glycine, the simplest amino acid, we have been interested for some time in the spectrum of an isomer of glycine, known as methyl carbamate, because this species is a chemical relative of methyl formate, which is abundant in hot cores.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Millimeter‐ and Submillimeter‐Wave Spectrum of Methyl Carbamate [CH ₃ OC(:O)NH ₂ ]

Groner

Winnewisser

Medvedev

et al. 2007

ASTROPHYS J SUPPL S

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The rotational-torsional spectrum of the syn conformer of methyl carbamate [CH 3 OC(:O)NH 2 ], an isomer of the essential amino acid glycine [NH 2 CH 2 C(:O)OH ], has been recorded at room temperature in the spectral region from 79 to 371 GHz. Methyl carbamate possesses a methyl group internal rotor, which gives rise to A and E torsional substates, and associated splittings in the rotational spectrum. Almost 6000 new rotational transitions arising from the vibrational ground state have been assigned, about half of them belonging to the E torsional substate. Along with some earlier data, the newly measured lines were assigned and analyzed efficiently by the integration of two program packages: CAAARS, a suite for visual, interactive mouse-assisted line assignment of asymmetric rotor spectra; and ERHAM, a program that solves the effective Hamiltonian for molecules with up to two periodic large-amplitude internal motions. This Hamiltonian was used to fit 28 spectroscopic parameters for the methyl carbamate ground vibrational state to the observed line positions with a standard deviation of 0.081 MHz. With the determined spectroscopic constants and the available dipole moment components, we are able to predict the transition frequencies and intensities of many additional lines through 400 GHz. Methyl carbamate can now be searched for over a wide frequency range in appropriate interstellar sources such as hot molecular cores.

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The Millimeter‐ and Submillimeter‐Wave Spectrum of Oxiranecarbonitrile

Cited by 12 publications

References 15 publications

The quest of chirality in the interstellar medium

The quest of chirality in the interstellar medium

A search for pre-biotic molecules in hot cores

The Millimeter‐ and Submillimeter‐Wave Spectrum of Methyl Carbamate [CH ₃ OC(:O)NH ₂ ]

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The Millimeter‐ and Submillimeter‐Wave Spectrum of Oxiranecarbonitrile

Cited by 12 publications

References 15 publications

The quest of chirality in the interstellar medium

The quest of chirality in the interstellar medium

A search for pre-biotic molecules in hot cores

The Millimeter‐ and Submillimeter‐Wave Spectrum of Methyl Carbamate [CH 3 OC(:O)NH 2 ]

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Resources

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The Millimeter‐ and Submillimeter‐Wave Spectrum of Methyl Carbamate [CH ₃ OC(:O)NH ₂ ]