The surface reactivity of acrylonitrile with oxygen atoms on an analogue of interstellar dust grains

A combined crossed molecular beam and theorerical study of the O(3P,1D) + acrylonitrile (CH2CHCN) reactions and implications for combustion and extraterrestrial environments

“…40 The authors suggested that the reaction occurs via electrophilic addition of the oxygen atom to the CC double bond, resulting in the formation of a resonantly stabilized intermediate OCH 2 CHCN, which can be cyclized to cyanoethyleneoxide. 40 The same conclusion was reached by Kimber et al 41 by experimentally studying the heterogeneous reaction between oxygen atoms and acrylonitrile on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) kept at 14–100 K. The experimental rate constant 40 was corroborated by theoretical computations carried out by Sun et al 42 using a statistical approach on the calculated triplet potential energy surface (PES) ( k tot = 1.79 × 10 −13 cm 3 mol −1 s −1 at 298 K and at a pressure of 1.2 Torr of Ar). Branching fractions (BFs) for addition and abstraction channels on the adiabatic triplet PES were estimated as a function of temperature and pressure.…”

Low-temperature reaction dynamics of paramagnetic species in the gas phase

“…A number of important processes occur at gas-surface interfaces, with the reactions of gas-phase radicals with aerosol surfaces (as occurs in the atmosphere) and radical reactions on the surface of interstellar dust particles particularly relevant to this highlight article. [176][177][178][179][180][181][182][183][184][185][186] While the interactions of gas-phase radicals with surfaces are technically outside the scope of this work, they are mentioned here to highlight the benefits (to both fields) of combining methods for manipulating radical beams with techniques developed for the study of dynamics at surfaces. By exerting increased control over the radical reactant beam, it may be feasible to differentiate between competing reaction pathways and to elucidate reaction mechanisms in complex reaction systems.…”

Overview of desorption parameters of volatile and complex organic molecules

“…While some molecules are well studied, it is also noteworthy that some prominent interstellar molecules have not rigorously been studied in the laboratory, such as dimethyl ether (CH 3 OCH 3 ), ethylene glycol ((CH 2 OH) 2 ), and acetamide (CH 3 C(O)NH 2 ). For some molecules like ethylcyanide (CH 3 CH 2 CN) and vinylcyanide (CH 2 CHCN), only limited data can be found in the literature (Toumi et al 2016;Kimber et al 2018;Couturier-Tamburelli et al 2018) and only for the case of multilayer desorption. Because these species are routinely observed in the ISM (e.g.…”