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Register a new userIncreased complexity in interstellar chemistry: Detection and chemical modeling of ethyl formate and n-propyl cyanide in Sgr B2(N)
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A. Belloche
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In recent years, organic molecules of increasing complexity have been found toward the prolific Galactic center source Sagittarius B2. We wish to explore the degree of complexity that the interstellar chemistry can reach in star-forming regions. We carried out a complete line survey of the hot cores Sgr B2(N) and (M) with the IRAM 30 m telescope in the 3 mm range. We analyzed this spectral survey in the LTE approximation. We modeled the emission of all known molecules simultaneously, which allows us to search for less abundant, more complex molecules. We compared the derived column densities with the predictions of a coupled gas-phase and grain-surface chemical code. We report the first detection in space of ethyl formate (C2H5OCHO) and n-propyl cyanide (C3H7CN) toward Sgr B2(N). The abundances of ethyl formate and n-propyl cyanide relative to H2 are estimated to be 3.6e-9 and 1.0e-9, respectively. Our chemical modeling suggests that the sequential, piecewise construction of ethyl and n-propyl cyanide from their constituent functional groups on the grain surfaces is their most likely formation route. Ethyl formate is primarily formed on the grains by adding CH3 to functional-group radicals derived from methyl formate, although ethanol may also be a precursor. The detection in Sgr B2(N) of the next stage of complexity in two classes of complex molecule, esters and alkyl cyanides, suggests that greater complexity in other classes of molecule may be present in the interstellar medium. {Abridged}
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The largest non-cyclic molecules detected in the interstellar medium (ISM) are organic with a straight-chain carbon backbone. We report an interstellar detection of a branched alkyl molecule, iso-propyl cyanide (i-C3H7CN), with an abundance 0.4 times that of its straight-chain structural isomer. This detection suggests that branched carbon-chain molecules may be generally abundant in the ISM. Our astrochemical model indicates that both isomers are produced within or upon dust grain ice mantles through the addition of molecular radicals, albeit via differing reaction pathways. The production of iso-propyl cyanide appears to require the addition of a functional group to a non-terminal carbon in the chain. Its detection therefore bodes well for the presence in the ISM of amino acids, for which such side-chain structure is a key characteristic.
Glycolamide is a glycine isomer and also one of the simplest derivatives of acetamide (e.g., one hydrogen atom is replaced with a hydroxyl group), which is a known interstellar molecule. Using a battery of state of the art rotational spectroscopic techniques in the frequency and time domain, around 1500 transitions have been newly assigned. Based on the reliable frequency predictions, we report a radioastronomical search for glycolamide in the well known high-mass star forming region Sgr B2(N) using the ALMA imaging spectral line survey ReMoCA. We also searched for glycolamide toward Sgr B2(N) with the Effelsberg radio telescope. We report the nondetection of glycolamide toward this source with an abundance at least six and five times lower than that of acetamide and glycolaldehyde, respectively. Our astrochemical model suggests that glycolamide may be present in this source at a level just below the upper limit, which was derived from the EMoCA survey. We could also not detect the molecule in the regions extended molecular envelope, which was probed with the Effelsberg telescope. We find an upper limit to its column density that is similar to the column densities obtained earlier for acetamide and glycolaldehyde with the Green Bank Telescope.
Thioformamide NH2CHS is a sulfur-bearing analog of formamide NH2CHO. The latter was detected in the interstellar medium back in the 1970s. Most of the sulfur-containing molecules detected in the interstellar medium are analogs of corresponding oxygen-containing compounds. Therefore, thioformamide is an interesting candidate for a search in the interstellar medium. The rotational spectrum of thioformamide was measured and analyzed in the frequency range 150 to 660 GHz using the Lille spectrometer. We searched for thioformamide toward the high-mass star-forming region Sagittarius (Sgr) B2(N) using the ReMoCA spectral line survey carried out with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Accurate rotational constants were obtained from the analysis of the ground state of parent, 34S, 13C, and 15N singly substituted isotopic species of thioformamide. For the parent isotopolog, the lowest two excited vibrational states, v12 = 1 and v9 = 1, were analyzed using a model that takes Coriolis coupling into account. Thioformamide was not detected toward the hot cores Sgr B2(N1S) and Sgr B2(N2). The sensitive upper limits indicate that thioformamide is nearly three orders of magnitude at least less abundant than formamide. This is markedly different from methanethiol, which is only about two orders of magnitude less abundant than methanol in both sources. The different behavior shown by methanethiol versus thioformamide may be caused by the preferential formation of the latter (on grains) at late times and low temperatures, when CS abundances are depressed. This reduces the thioformamide-to-formamide ratio, because the HCS radical is not as readily available under these conditions.
We have used an unbiased, spectral line-survey that covers the frequency range from 211 to 275 GHz and was obtained with ALMA (angular resolution of 0.4 arcsec) to study the small-scale structure of the dense gas in Sagittarius B2 (north). Eight filaments are found converging to the central hub and extending for about 0.1 pc. The spatial structure, together with the presence of the massive central region, suggest that these filaments may be associated with accretion processes. In order to derive the kinematic properties of the gas in a chemically line-rich source like Sgr B2(N), we have developed a new tool that stacks all the detected transition lines of any molecular species. This permits to increase the signal-to-noise ratio of our observations and average out line blending effects, which are a common problem in line-rich regions. We derive velocity gradients along the filaments of about 20-100 km s$^{-1}$ pc$^{-1}$, which are 10-100 times larger than those typically found on larger scales (1 pc) in other star-forming regions. The mass accretion rates of individual filaments are about 0.05 M$_odot$ yr$^{-1}$, which result in a total accretion rate of 0.16 M$_odot$ yr$^{-1}$. Some filaments harbor dense cores that are likely forming stars and stellar clusters. The stellar content of these dense cores is on the order of 50% of the total mass. We conclude that the cores may merge in the center when already forming stellar clusters but still containing a significant amount of gas, resulting in a damp merger. The high density and mass of the central region, combined with the presence of converging filaments with high mass, high accretion rates and embedded dense cores already forming stars, suggest that Sgr B2(N) may have the potential to evolve into a super stellar cluster.
For all the amides detected in the interstellar medium (ISM), the corresponding nitriles or isonitriles have also been detected in the ISM, some of which have relatively high abundances. Among the abundant nitriles for which the corresponding amide has not yet been detected is cyanoacetylene (HCCCN), whose amide counterpart is propiolamide (HCCC(O)NH$_2$). With the aim of supporting searches for this amide in the ISM, we provide a complete rotational study of propiolamide from 6 GHz to 440 GHz using rotational spectroscopic techniques in the frequency and time domain. We identified and measured more than 5500 distinct frequency lines of propiolamide and obtained accurate sets of spectroscopic parameters for the ground state and the three low-lying excited vibrational states. We used the ReMoCA spectral line survey performed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array toward the star-forming region Sgr B2(N) to search for propiolamide. We report the nondetection of propiolamide toward the hot cores Sgr B2(N1S) and Sgr B2(N2). We find that propiolamide is at least 50 and 13 times less abundant than acetamide in Sgr B2(N1S) and Sgr B2(N2), respectively, indicating that the abundance difference between both amides is more pronounced by at least a factor of 8 and 2, respectively, than for their corresponding nitriles. Although propiolamide has yet to be included in astrochemical modeling networks, the observed upper limit to the ratio of propiolamide to acetamide seems consistent with the ratios of related species as determined from past simulations.
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