Experimental and computational studies on the surface reaction of carbonyl sulfide with hydrogen atoms on compact amorphous solid water

Carbonyl sulfide (OCS) is an abundant sulfur (S)-bearing species in the interstellar medium. It is present not only in the gas phase, but also on interstellar grains as as solid; therefore, OCS very likely undergoes physico-chemical processes on icy surfaces at very low temperatures. The present study experimentally and computationally investigates the reaction of solid OCS with hydrogen (H) atoms on amorphous solid water at low temperatures. The results show that H addition to OCS proceeds via quantum tunneling, and further H addition leads to the formation of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), formaldehyde (H2CO), methanol (CH3OH) and thioformic acid (HC(O)SH). These experimental results are explained by our quantum chemical calculations, which demonstrate that the initial H addition to the S atom of OCS is the most predominant, leading to the formation of OCS-H radicals. Once the formed OCS-H radical is stabilized on ices, further H addtion to the S atom yields CO and H2S, while that to the C atom yields HC(O)SH. We have also confirmed, in a separate experiment, the HCOSH formation by the HCO reactions with the SH radicals. The present results would have an important implication for the recent detection of HC(O)SH toward H+0.693-0.027.