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Issue A&A
Volume 369, Number 2, April II 2001
Page(s) 611 - 615
Section Diffuse matter in space
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20010126



A&A 369, 611-615 (2001)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20010126

The production of HCN dimer and more complex oligomers in dense interstellar clouds

I. W. M. Smith1, D. Talbi2 and E. Herbst3

1  School of Chemistry, The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
2  LETMEX, Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, Parc Valois, U.F.R. Sciences, 06108 Nice Cedex 2, France
3  Departments of Physics and Astronomy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA

(Received 8 January 2001 / Accepted 16 January 2001)

Abstract
Using quantum chemical and kinetic techniques, we show that the reaction between two HCN molecules under interstellar conditions cannot lead efficiently to a dimer of this species (H2C2N2), whatever its structure. If the dimerization reaction does not occur efficiently, then it is impossible to synthesize detectable abundances of the pre-biotic HCN oligomer adenine (H5C5N5) in the interstellar medium via successive neutral-neutral reactions between HCN and its dimer, trimer, and tetramer.


Key words: ISM: abundances -- ISM: molecules

Offprint request: E. Herbst, herbst@mps.ohio-state.edu




© ESO 2001

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