2021MNRAS.506.2059S

Aminomethanol is an important precursor of interstellar glycine. A two-step formation pathway has been proposed for aminomethanol in interstellar ice via reaction between CH⁺, NH₃ mixed water ice and OH radical. The ice model is built using cluster approach that employs one NH₃ and 11 water molecules to simulate NH₃ mixed water ice. Density functional theory at B2PLYPD/6-311++G(2d, p) level of theory is utilized to explore the proposed pathway. Our proposed pathway is found to be very efficient in the ice owing to the low entrance barrier of ca. 1.443 kcal mol^–1. It is also observed that CH₂NH₂⁺ is the starting reactant in our proposed root for aminomethanol; thus, if discussed formation root is applicable, the abundance of CH₂NH₂⁺ is a direct indicator for the presence of aminomethanol.