Mechanistical study on the formation of hydroxyacetone (CH<sub>3</sub>COCH<sub>2</sub>OH), methyl acetate (CH<sub>3</sub>COOCH<sub>3</sub>), and 3-hydroxypropanal (HCOCH<sub>2</sub>CH<sub>2</sub>OH) along with their enol tautomers (prop-1-ene-1,2-diol (CH<sub>3</sub>C(OH)CHOH), prop-2-ene-1,2-diol (CH<sub>2</sub>C(OH)CH<sub>2</sub>OH), 1-methoxyethen-1-ol (CH<sub>3</sub>OC(OH)CH<sub>2</sub>) and prop-1-ene-1,3-diol (HOCH<sub>2</sub>CHCHOH)) in interstellar ice analogs
Jia Wang, Joshua H. Marks, Andrew M. Turner, Anatoliy A. Nikolayev, Valeriy N. Azyazov, Alexander M. Mebel, Ralf I. Kaiser
Abstract
CHCHOH) are experimentally identified for the first time. Our findings help to constrain the formation mechanism of hydroxyacetone and methyl acetate detected within star-forming regions and suggest that the hitherto astronomically unobserved isomer 3-hydroxypropanal and its enol tautomers represent promising candidates for future astronomical searches. These enol tautomers may contribute to the molecular synthesis of biologically relevant molecules in deep space due to their nucleophilic character and high reactivity.
Topics & Concepts
TautomerChemistryEnolPhotochemistryMethyl acetatePhotoionizationDiolMedicinal chemistryMethanolOrganic chemistryIonizationCatalysisIonMolecular Spectroscopy and StructureAdvanced Chemical Physics StudiesAstrophysics and Star Formation Studies