2025ApJ...990..163B -
Astrophys. J., 990, 163 (2025/September-2)
Formation of Complex Organic Molecules in Prestellar Cores: The Role of Nondiffusive Grain Chemistry.
BORSHCHEVA K., FEDOSEEV G., PUNANOVA A.F., CASELLI P., JIMENEZ-SERRA I. and VASYUNIN A.I.
Abstract (from CDS):
We present the results of astrochemical modeling of complex organic molecules (COMs) in the ice and gas of the prestellar core L1544 with the recently updated MONACO rate equation-based model. The model includes, in particular, nondiffusive processes, new laboratory verified chemical routes for acetaldehyde and methane ice formation, and variations of H and H2 desorption energies depending on the surface coverage by H2 molecules. For the first time, we simultaneously reproduce the abundances of several oxygen-bearing COMs in the gas-phase, the approximate location of the peak of methanol emission, as well as the abundance of methanol in the icy mantles of L1544. Radical-radical reactions on the grain surface between species such as CH3, CH3O, and HCO efficiently proceed nondiffusively. COMs are delivered to the gas-phase via chemical desorption amplified by the loops of H-addition/abstraction surface reactions. However, gas-phase chemical reactions as well provide a noticeable input to the formation of COMs in the gas, but not to the COMs solid-state abundances. This particularly applies for CH3CHO and CH3OCH3. The simulated abundances of COMs in the ice are in the range 1%-2% (for methyl formate ice) or ∼0.1% (for CH3CHO and CH3OCH3) with respect to the abundance of H2O ice. We stress a similarity between the simulated abundances of icy COMs in L1544 and the abundances of COMs in the gas-phase of hot cores/corinos. We compare our nondiffusive model with the diffusive model and provide constraints for the species' diffusion-to-desorption energy ratios.
Abstract Copyright:
© 2025. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.
Journal keyword(s):
Astrochemistry - Interstellar dust processes - Interstellar abundances - Star formation - Complex organic molecules - Chemical reaction network models
Simbad objects:
22
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