Formation of cyanoformaldehyde in the interstellar space

Abstract

Cyanoformaldehyde (HCOCN) molecule has recently been suspected towards the\nSagittarius B2(N) by the Green Bank telescope, though a confirmation of this\nobservation has not yet been made. In and around a star forming region, this\nmolecule could be formed by the exothermic reaction between two abundant\ninterstellar species, H2CO and CN. Till date, the reaction rate coefficient for\nthe formation of this molecule is unknown. Educated guesses were used to\nexplain the abundance of this molecule by chemical modeling. In this paper, we\ncarried out quantum chemical calculations to find out empirical rate\ncoefficients for the formation of HCOCN and different chemical properties\nduring the formation of HCOCN molecules. Though HCOCN is stable against\nunimolecular decomposition, this gas phase molecule could be destroyed by many\nother means, like: ion-molecular reactions or by the effect of cosmic rays.\nIon-molecular reaction rates are computed by using the capture theories. We\nhave also included the obtained rate coefficients into our large gas-grain\nchemical network to study the chemical evolution of these species in various\ninterstellar conditions. Formation of one of the isotopologue(DCOCN) of HCOCN\nis also studied. Our study predicts the possibility of finding HCOCN and DCOCN\nin the ice phase with a reasonably high abundance. In order to detect HCOCN or\nDCOCN in various interstellar environments, it is necessary to know the\nspectroscopic properties of these molecules. To this effect, we carried out\nquantum chemical calculations to find out different spectral parameters of\nHCOCN for the transition in electronic, infrared and rotational modes. We\nclearly show how the isotopic substitution (DCOCN) plays a part in the\nvibrational progressions of HCOCN.\n