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The interstellar chemistry of PAH cations

Author

Listed:
  • Theodore P. Snow

    (Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, University of Colorado)

  • Valery Le Page

    (University of Colorado)

  • Yeghis Keheyan

    (Istituto di Chimica Nucleare del CNR)

  • Veronica M. Bierbaum

    (University of Colorado)

Abstract

Diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) are mysterious absorption lines in the optical spectra of stars, and have been known for 75 years1. Although it is widely believed2,3,4 that they arise from gas-phase organic molecules (rather than from dust grains) in the interstellar medium, no consensus has been reached regarding their precise cause. The realization that many emission features in astronomical infrared spectra probably arise from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons5,6,7,8 (PAHs), which may themselves be very abundant in the interstellar medium, has led to the suggestion that ionized PAHs might be the source of the DIBs9,10,11,12. Laboratory investigations have revealed that small, positively charged PAHs in matrices have absorption features that bear some resemblance to DIBs13,14,15, but no clear identification of any DIB with any specific PAH cation has yet been made. Here we report a laboratory study of the chemical reactivity of PAH cations (C6H6+, C10H8+and C16H10+) in the gas phase. We find that these PAH cations are very reactive, and are therefore unlikely to survive in high abundances in the interstellar medium. Rather, such molecules will react rapidly with hydrogen, and we therefore suggest that the resulting protonated PAH cations (and species derived from them) should become the focus of future searches for a correspondence between molecular absorption features and the DIBs.

Suggested Citation

  • Theodore P. Snow & Valery Le Page & Yeghis Keheyan & Veronica M. Bierbaum, 1998. "The interstellar chemistry of PAH cations," Nature, Nature, vol. 391(6664), pages 259-260, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:391:y:1998:i:6664:d:10.1038_34602
    DOI: 10.1038/34602
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    Cited by:

    1. J. W. L. Lee & D. S. Tikhonov & P. Chopra & S. Maclot & A. L. Steber & S. Gruet & F. Allum & R. Boll & X. Cheng & S. Düsterer & B. Erk & D. Garg & L. He & D. Heathcote & M. Johny & M. M. Kazemi & H. K, 2021. "Time-resolved relaxation and fragmentation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons investigated in the ultrafast XUV-IR regime," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Mark H. Stockett & James N. Bull & Henrik Cederquist & Suvasthika Indrajith & MingChao Ji & José E. Navarro Navarrete & Henning T. Schmidt & Henning Zettergren & Boxing Zhu, 2023. "Efficient stabilization of cyanonaphthalene by fast radiative cooling and implications for the resilience of small PAHs in interstellar clouds," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.

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