REACTION ROUTES IN THE CO-H₂CO-<i>d_n</i>-CH₃OH-<i>d_m</i>SYSTEM CLARIFIED FROM H(D) EXPOSURE OF SOLID FORMALDEHYDE AT LOW TEMPERATURES

Abstract

Grain surface reaction has been expected to be a key process for deuterium enrichment in interstellar molecules. We focus on formaldehyde, which is predicted to be formed on cold grain surface in astrophysical models and is known to be deuterium-enriched in a molecular cloud. Reaction routes and effective reaction rate constants are experimentally investigated when H2CO and D2CO are exposed to D and H atoms on amorphous solid water (ASW) at 10–20 K, respectively. For D + H2CO on ASW, H2CO was converted to HDCO and D2CO by the H–D substitution reactions. Although CD3OD was slightly observed, doubly and triply deuterated methanol, CH2DOD and CHD2OD, were not observed. This implies that D addition to H2CO (formation of deuterated methanol) is a minor reaction route. On the other hand, for H + D2CO, H addition reactions to form CHD2OH proceed at a significant rate. Simultaneously, a competitive reaction, the substitution reaction by H atoms and subsequent H addition (D2CO → HDCO → H2CO → CH3OH) also proceed at a significant rate. However, no H addition to HDCO was observed. The effective surface reaction routes when CO is exposed to H and D atoms are summarized using the present experimental results and the previous results of our group.