This work aims to constrain the abundances of interstellar amides, by searching for this group of prebiotic molecules in the intermediate-mass protostar Serpens SMM1-a. ALMA observations are conducted toward Serpens SMM1. A spectrum is extracted toward the SMM1-a position and analyzed with the CASSIS line analysis software for the presence of characteristic rotational lines of a number of amides and other molecules. NH ₂CHO, NH ₂CHO ν ₁₂= 1, NH ₂ ¹³CHO, CH ₃C(O)NH ₂ν = 0, 1, CH ₂DOH, CH ₃CHO, and CH ₃C(O)CH ₃are securely detected, while trans-NHDCHO, NH ₂CDO, CH ₃NHCHO ν = 0, 1, CH ₃COOH, and HOCH ₂CHO are tentatively identified. The results of this work are compared with detections presented in the literature. A uniform CH ₃C(O)NH ₂/NH ₂CHO ratio is found for a group of interstellar sources with vast physical differences. A similar ratio is seen for CH ₃NHCHO, based on a smaller data sample. The D/H ratio of NH ₂CHO is about 1-3% and is close to values found in the low-mass source IRAS 16293-2422B. The formation of CH ₃C(O)NH ₂and NH ₂CHO is likely linked. Formation of these molecules on grain surfaces during the dark cloud stage is a likely scenario. The high D/H ratio of NH ₂CHO is also seen as an indication that these molecules are formed on icy dust grains. As a direct consequence, amides are expected to be present in the most pristine material from which planetary systems form, thus providing a reservoir of prebiotic material.

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Context. Recent observations of protoplanetary disks suggest that they are depleted in gas-phase CO up to a factor of 100 with respect to predictions from physical-chemical (or thermo-chemical) models. It has been posed that gas-phase CO is chemically consumed and converted into less volatile species through gas-grain processes. Observations of interstellar ices reveal a CO2 component in a polar (H2O) ice matrix, suggesting potential co-formation or co-evolution. Aims. The aim of this work is to experimentally verify the interaction of gas-phase CO with solid-state OH radicals on the surface of water ice above the sublimation temperature of CO. Methods. Amorphous solid water (ASW) is deposited in an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) setup at 15 K and irradiated with vacuum-UV (VUV) photons (140-170 nm, produced with a microwave-discharge hydrogen-flow lamp) to dissociate H2O and create OH radicals. Gas-phase CO is simultaneously admitted and only adsorbs with a short residence time on the ASW. Formed products in the solid state are studied in the infrared through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and once released into the gas phase with quadrupole mass spectrometry. Results. Our experiments show that gas-phase CO is converted into CO2 when interacting with ASW that is VUV irradiated with a conversion efficiency of 7-27%. Between 40 and 90 K, CO2 production is constant, above 90 K, CO2 production is reduced in favor of O2 production. In the temperature range of 40-60 K, the CO2 remains in the solid state, while at temperatures 70 K the majority of the formed CO2 is immediately released into the gas phase. Conclusions. We conclude that gas-phase CO reacts with OH radicals, created on the surface of ASW with VUV irradiation, above its canonical sublimation temperature. The diffusion during the short, but nonzero, residence times of CO on the surface of ASW suggests that a Langmuir-Hinshelwood type reaction is involved. This gas-phase CO and solid-state OH radical interaction could explain (part of) the observed presence of CO2 embedded in water-rich ices when it occurs during the build up of the H2O ice mantle. It may also contribute to the observed lack of gas-phase CO in planet-forming disks, as previously suggested. It should be noted though that our experiments indicate a lower water ice dissociation efficiency than originally adopted in model descriptions of planet-forming disks and molecular clouds. Incorporation of the reduced water ice dissociation and increased binding energy of CO on a water ice surfaces in physical-chemical models would allow investigation of this gas-grain interaction to its full extend.

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Aims. Methyl isocyanate (CH3NCO) and glycolonitrile (HOCH2CN) are isomers and prebiotic molecules that are involved in the formation of peptide structures and the nucleobase adenine, respectively. These two species are investigated to study the interstellar chemistry of cyanides (CN) and isocyanates (NCO) and to gain insight into the reservoir of interstellar prebiotic molecules.Methods. ALMA observations of the intermediate-mass Class 0 protostar Serpens SMM1-a and ALMA-PILS data of the low-mass Class 0 protostar IRAS 16293B are used. Spectra are analysed with the CASSIS line analysis software package in order to identify and characterise molecules.Results. CH3NCO, HOCH2CN, and various other molecules are detected towards SMM1-a. HOCH2CN is identified in the PILS data towards IRAS 16293B in a spectrum extracted at a half-beam offset position from the peak continuum. CH3NCO and HOCH2CN are equally abundant in SMM1-a at [X]/[CH3OH] of 5.3 × 10−4 and 6.2 × 10−4, respectively. A comparison between SMM1-a and IRAS 16293B shows that HOCH2CN and HNCO are more abundant in the former source, but CH3NCO abundances do not differ significantly. Data from other sources are used to show that the [CH3NCO]/[HNCO] ratio is similar in all these sources within ~10%.Conclusions. The new detections of CH3NCO and HOCH2CN are additional evidence for a large interstellar reservoir of prebiotic molecules that can contribute to the formation of biomolecules on planets. The equal abundances of these molecules in SMM1-a indicate that their formation is driven by kinetic processes instead of thermodynamic equilibrium, which would drive the chemistry to one product. HOCH2CN is found to be much more abundant in SMM1-a than in IRAS 16293B. From the observational data, it is difficult to indicate a formation pathway for HOCH2CN, but the thermal Strecker-like reaction of CN− with H2CO is a possibility. The similar [CH3NCO]/[HNCO] ratios found in the available sample of studied interstellar sources indicate that these two species are either chemically related or their formation is affected by physical conditions in the same way. Both species likely form early during star formation, presumably via ice mantle reactions taking place in the dark cloud or when ice mantles are being heated in the hot core. The relatively high abundances of HOCH2CN and HNCO in SMM1-a may be explained by a prolonged stage of relatively warm ice mantles, where thermal and energetic processing of HCN in the ice results in the efficient formation of both species.</jats:p>@en

The emergence of life on Earth may have its origin in organic molecules formed in the interstellar medium. Molecules with amide and isocyanate groups resemble structures found in peptides and nucleobases and are necessary for their formation. Their formation is expected to take place in the solid state, on icy dust grains, and is studied here by far-UV irradiating a CH4:HNCO mixture at 20 K in the laboratory. Reaction products are detected by means of infrared spectroscopy and temperature programmed desorption-mass spectrometry. Various simple amides and isocyanates are formed, showing the importance of ice chemistry for their interstellar formation. Constrained by experimental conditions, a reaction network is derived, showing possible formation pathways of these species under interstellar conditions.

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The identification of complex organic molecules, COMs, in inter- A nd circumstellar gas phase environments is steadily increasing. The formation of such COMs takes largely place on the icy dust grains, as has been shown in recent laboratory studies. Until now solid state features of smaller molecular species have been directly identified in these environments. The presented work on acetaldehyde (CH3CHO), ethanol (CH3CH2OH), and dimethyl ether (CH3OCH3) in different astronomically relevant ice environments and for temperatures in the range 15 to 160 Kelvin, provides the necessary tools to guide or interpret astronomical observations, specifically for upcoming James Webb Space Telescope observations.

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Molecules with an amide functional group resemble peptide bonds, the molecular bridges that connect amino acids, and may thus be relevant in processes that lead to the formation of life. In this study, the solid state formation of some of the smallest amides is investigated in the laboratory. To this end, CH4:HNCO ice mixtures at 20 K are irradiated with far-UV photons, where the radiation is used as a tool to produce the radicals required for the formation of the amides. Products are identified and investigated with infrared spectroscopy and temperature-programmed desorption mass spectrometry. The laboratory data show that NH₂CHO, CH₃NCO, NH₂C(O)NH₂, CH₃ C(O)NH₂, and CH₃NH₂ can simultaneously be formed. The NH₂CO radical is found to be key in the formation of larger amides. In parallel, ALMA observations towards the low-mass protostar IRAS 16293-2422B are analysed in search of CH₃NHCHO (N-methylformamide) and CH₃C(O)NH₂ (acetamide). CH₃C(O)NH₂ is tentatively detected towards IRAS 16293-2422B at an abundance comparable with those found towards high-mass sources. The combined laboratory and observational data indicate that NH₂CHO and CH₃C(O)NH₂ are chemically linked and form in the ice mantles of interstellar dust grains. A solid-state reaction network for the formation of these amides is proposed.

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We use experimental mid-infrared optical constants and extended effective medium approximations to determine the porosity and the band strengths of multi-phase composite ices grown at 30 K. A set of porous H₂O:CH₄ ices are taken as a prototypical example. As a benchmark and proof of concept, the stoichiometry of the ice constituents is retreived with good accuracy from the refractive indices and the extinction coefficients of the reference binary ice mixtures with known compositions. Accurate band strengths are then calculated from experimental mid-infrared spectra of complex ices. We notice that the presence of pores has only a small effect on the overall band strengths, whereas a water dilution can considerably alter them. Different levels of porosity are observed depending on the abundance of methane used as a gas contaminant premixed with water prior to background deposition. The absorption profiles are also found to vary with deposition rate. To explain this, we use Monte Carlo simulations and we observe that the deposition rate strongly affects the pore size distribution as well as the ice morphology through reorganization processes. Extrapolated to genuine interstellar ices, the methodology presented in this paper can be used to evaluate the porosity and to quantify the relative abundances from observational data.

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The level of porosity of interstellar ices, largely comprised of amorphous solid water (ASW), contains clues about the trapping capacity of other volatile species and determines the surface accessibility that is needed for solid-state reactions to take place. Aims. Our goal is to simulate the growth of amorphous water ice at low temperature (10 K) and to characterise the evolution of the porosity (and the specific surface area) as a function of temperature (from 10 to 120 K). Methods. Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations are used to mimic the formation and the thermal evolution of pores in amorphous water ice. We follow the accretion of gas-phase water molecules as well as their migration on surfaces with different grid sizes, both at the top growing layer and within the bulk. Results. We show that the porosity characteristics change substantially in water ice as the temperature increases. The total surface of the pores decreases to a great extend while the total volume decreases only slightly for higher temperatures. This will decrease the overall reaction efficiency, but in parallel, small pores connect and merge, which allows trapped molecules to meet and react within the pores network and provides a pathway to increase the reaction efficiency. We introduce pore coalescence as a new solid-state process that may boost the solid-state formation of new molecules in space, and which has not been considered so far.

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Aims. This article aims to provide an alternative method of measuring the porosity of multi-phase composite ices from their refractive indices and of characterising how the abundance of a premixed contaminant (e.g., CO ₂) affects the porosity of water-rich ice mixtures during omni-directional deposition. Methods. We combine optical laser interference and extended effective medium approximations (EMAs) to measure the porosity of three astrophysically relevant ice mixtures: H₂O:CO₂ = 10:1, 4:1, and 2:1. Infrared spectroscopy is used as a benchmarking test of this new laboratory-based method. Results. By independently monitoring the O-H dangling modes of the different water-rich ice mixtures, we confirm the porosities predicted by the extended EMAs. We also demonstrate that CO₂ premixed with water in the gas phase does not significantly affect the ice morphology during omni-directional deposition, as long as the physical conditions favourable to segregation are not reached. We propose a mechanism in which CO₂ molecules diffuse on the surface of the growing ice sample prior to being incorporated into the bulk and then fill the pores partly or completely, depending on the relative abundance and the growth temperature.

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