Dataset Information

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon formation chemistry in a plasma jet revealed by IR-UV action spectroscopy.

ABSTRACT: Large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the most abundant complex molecules in the interstellar medium; however, their possible formation pathways from small molecular species are still elusive. In the present work, we follow and characterize the formation of PAHs in an electrical discharge, specifically the PAH naphthalene in a molecular beam of argon. The fragments, products and reaction intermediates are unambiguously structurally identified by mass-selective IR-UV spectroscopy combined with quantum chemical calculations. This experiment provides evidence of the formation of larger PAHs containing up to four cyclic rings in the gas phase originating from a non-radical PAH molecule as a precursor. In addition to PAH formation, key resonance stabilized radical intermediates and intermediates containing di-acetylenic side groups are unambiguously identified in our experiment. We thereby not only reveal competing formation pathways to larger PAHs, but also identify intermediate species to PAH formation that are candidates for detection in radio-astronomy.

SUBMITTER: Lemmens AK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6959308 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon formation chemistry in a plasma jet revealed by IR-UV action spectroscopy.

Lemmens Alexander K AK Rap Daniël B DB Thunnissen Johannes M M JMM Willemsen Bryan B Rijs Anouk M AM

Nature communications 20200114 1

Large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the most abundant complex molecules in the interstellar medium; however, their possible formation pathways from small molecular species are still elusive. In the present work, we follow and characterize the formation of PAHs in an electrical discharge, specifically the PAH naphthalene in a molecular beam of argon. The fragments, products and reaction intermediates are unambiguously structurally identified by mass-selective IR-UV spectroscopy comb ...[more]

PMID: 31937755

Similar Datasets

Project description:The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will deliver an unprecedented quantity of high-quality spectral data over the 0.6-28 μm range. It will combine sensitivity, spectral resolution, and spatial resolution. Specific tools are required to provide efficient scientific analysis of such large data sets. Our aim is to illustrate the potential of unsupervised learning methods to get insights into chemical variations in the populations that carry the aromatic infrared bands (AIBs), more specifically polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) species and carbonaceous very small grains (VSGs). We present a method based on linear fitting and blind signal separation for extracting representative spectra for a spectral data set. The method is fast and robust, which ensures its applicability to JWST spectral cubes. We tested this method on a sample of ISO-SWS data, which resemble most closely the JWST spectra in terms of spectral resolution and coverage. Four representative spectra were extracted. Their main characteristics appear consistent with previous studies with populations dominated by cationic PAHs, neutral PAHs, evaporating VSGs, and large ionized PAHs, known as the PAH x population. In addition, the 3 μm range, which is considered here for the first time in a blind signal separation (BSS) method, reveals the presence of aliphatics connected to neutral PAHs. Each representative spectrum is found to carry second-order spectral signatures (e.g., small bands), which are connected with the underlying chemical diversity of populations. However, the precise attribution of theses signatures remains limited by the combined small size and heterogeneity of the sample of astronomical spectra available in this study. The upcoming JWST data will allow us to overcome this limitation. The large data sets of hyperspectral images provided by JWST analysed with the proposed method, which is fast and robust, will open promising perspectives for our understanding of the chemical evolution of the AIB carriers.

Dataset Information

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon formation chemistry in a plasma jet revealed by IR-UV action spectroscopy.

Publications

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon formation chemistry in a plasma jet revealed by IR-UV action spectroscopy.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets