Formation mechanism of glycolaldehyde and ethylene glycol in astrophysical ices from HCO· and ·CH^sub 2^OH recombination: an experimental study

Among all existing complex organic molecules, glycolaldehyde HOCH...CHO and ethylene glycol HOCH...CH...OH are two of the largest detected molecules in the interstellar medium. We investigate both experimentally and theoretically the low-temperature reaction pathways leading to glycolaldehyde and et...

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Published inMonthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 453; no. 2; p. 1587
Main Authors Butscher, T, Duvernay, F, Theule, P, Danger, G, Carissan, Y, Hagebaum-Reignier, D, Chiavassa, T
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Oxford University Press 21.10.2015
Subjects
Astronomy
Experiments
Molecules
Organic chemicals
Star & galaxy formation
Temperature
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Summary:Among all existing complex organic molecules, glycolaldehyde HOCH...CHO and ethylene glycol HOCH...CH...OH are two of the largest detected molecules in the interstellar medium. We investigate both experimentally and theoretically the low-temperature reaction pathways leading to glycolaldehyde and ethylene glycol in interstellar grains. Using infrared spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy and quantum calculations, we investigate formation pathways of glycolaldehyde and ethylene glycol based on HCO... and ...CH...OH radical-radical recombinations. We also show that ...CH...OH is the main intermediate radical species in the H...CO to CH...OH hydrogenation processes. We then discuss astrophysical implications of the chemical pathway we propose on the observed gas-phase ethylene glycol and glycolaldehyde. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
ISSN:0035-8711
1365-2966