Measurement and significance of the equilibrium reaction C-13/+/ + /C-12/O yields C-12/+/ + /C-13/O for alteration of the C-13/C-12 ratio in interstellar molecules

Abstract

Laboratory measurements using the ion-cyclotron resonance technique yield a rate constant of 2 by 10 to the -10th power cu cm/sec at 300 K for the isotope exchange C-13(+) + (C-12)O yields C-12(+) + (C-13)O. According to the usual ideas about ion-molecule reactions, this rate constant should also be appropriate at temperatures not exceeding about 100 K. Then the observed C-13/C-12 ratio obtained from radio observation of interstellar molecules may be either larger or smaller than the actual value in the interstellar medium by factors of 2 or so. If the ratio is altered from the actual interstellar value, it will not be the same in all molecules, and CO will tend to have the highest value. The chief astronomical uncertainty for the occurrence of this isotope fractionation is the abundance of 'unobservable' molecules which can react rapidly with C(+): e.g., O2, H2O, CO2, and CH4. If their abundance is greater than about one-tenth that of CO, the isotope fractionation will be inhibited.