Abstract Oxygen-containing complex organic molecules are key precursors to biorelevant compounds fundamental for the origins of life. However, the untangling of their interstellar formation mechanisms has just scratched the surface, especially for oxygen-containing cyclic molecules. Here, we present the first laboratory simulation experiments featuring the formation of all three C2H4O isomers—ethylene oxide (c–C2H4O), acetaldehyde (CH3CHO), and vinyl alcohol (CH2CHOH)—in low-temperature model interstellar ices composed of carbon monoxide (CO) and ethanol (C2H5OH). Ice mixtures were exposed to galactic cosmic-ray proxies with an irradiation dose equivalent to a cold molecular cloud aged (7 ± 2) × 105yr. These biorelevant species were detected in the gas phase through isomer-selective photoionization reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometry during temperature-programmed desorption. Isotopic labeling experiments reveal that ethylene oxide is produced from ethanol alone, providing the first experimental evidence to support the hypothesis that ethanol serves as a precursor to the prototype epoxide in interstellar ices. These findings reveal feasible pathways for the formation of all three C2H4O isomers in ethanol-rich interstellar ices, offering valuable constraints on astrochemical models for their formation. Our results suggest that ethanol is a critical precursor to C2H4O isomers in interstellar environments, representing a critical step toward unraveling the formation mechanisms of oxygen-containing cyclic molecules, aldehydes, and their enol tautomers from alcohols in interstellar ices.
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H 2 O time histories in the H 2 ‐NO 2 system for validation of NOx hydrocarbon kinetics mechanisms
Abstract The development and refinement of NOx chemical kinetic mechanisms have been instrumental in understanding and reducing NOx formation. However, relatively little work has been performed with NOx species as the oxidizer, and such experiments can provide unique insights into NOx kinetics. Furthermore, speciation data can often provide useful information that complements global measurements such as ignition delay times in facilitating mechanism refinement. To provide such speciation data in the H2‐NO2system, H2O measurements were performed using a fixed‐wavelength, direct absorption laser diagnostic near 1.39 µm behind reflected shock waves in fuel‐lean, near‐stoichiometric, and fuel‐rich mixtures of H2and NO2highly diluted in argon. Experiments were performed between 917 and 1782 K near atmospheric pressure. The H2O profiles obtained herein are markedly different from those using O2as the oxidizer obtained in a previous study. The GRI 3.0 mechanism was found to greatly underestimate the H2O formation, whereas two modern mechanisms were found to predict the H2O formation quite accurately except at colder temperatures for fuel‐rich conditions. Explanations for the differences between these mechanisms are given and discussed, with the conclusion that older mechanisms such as GRI 3.0 should not be used to model hydrocarbon/NOx combustion chemistry as they are lacking several key reactions and species, namely NO3and HONO. The discrepancy between models and data at lower temperatures could not be reconciled even when modifying two of the most‐sensitive reaction rates. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study presents the first shock‐tube speciation study in the H2‐NO2system.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1706825
- PAR ID:
- 10460033
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- International Journal of Chemical Kinetics
- Volume:
- 51
- Issue:
- 9
- ISSN:
- 0538-8066
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 669-678
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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