2015ApJ...815..115P -
Astrophys. J., 815, 115 (2015/December-3)
Low temperature formation of nitrogen-substituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PANHs)- barrierless routes to dihydro(iso)quinolines.
PARKER D.S.N., YANG T., DANGI B.B., KAISER R.I., BERA P.P. and LEE T.J.
Abstract (from CDS):
Meteorites contain bio-relevant molecules such as vitamins and nucleobases, which consist of aromatic structures with embedded nitrogen atoms. Questions remain over the chemical mechanisms responsible for the formation of nitrogen-substituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PANHs) in extraterrestrial environments. By exploiting single collision conditions, we show that a radical mediated bimolecular collision between pyridyl radicals and 1,3-butadiene in the gas phase forms nitrogen-substituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PANHs) 1,4-dihydroquinoline and to a minor amount 1,4-dihydroisoquinoline. The reaction proceeds through the formation of a van der Waals complex, which circumnavigates the entrance barrier implying it can operate at very low kinetic energy and therefore at low temperatures of 10 K as present in cold molecular clouds such as TMC-1. The discovery of facile de facto barrierless exoergic reaction mechanisms leading to PANH formation could play an important role in providing a population of aromatic structures upon which further photo-processing of ice condensates could occur to form nucleobases.
Abstract Copyright:
∼
Journal keyword(s):
astrobiology - astrochemistry - ISM: molecules - molecular processes
Simbad objects:
4
Full paper
View the references in ADS
To bookmark this query, right click on this link: simbad:2015ApJ...815..115P and select 'bookmark this link' or equivalent in the popup menu