Organometallic chemistry in the interstellar medium. I : Are organometallic reactions efficient processes in astrochemistry ?

Abstract

The 3.3 μm feature, characteristic of aromatic C-H bonds (ν C-H), is observed in emission everywhere in the interstellar medium (ISM). This demonstrates the presence of aromatic molecules in the ISM (PAHs or others). It is proposed that efficient reactions should occur between aromatics and transition metals to corm new organometallic molecules. The organometallic bonding is of the same order of stability as an aromatic C-H bond; such bonding modifies the IR spectrum of aromatic compounds by enhancing the 3.3 μm feature and decreasing the bands in the 11-12 μm range (γ C-H). Furthemore, the existence of organometallic reactions could contribute significantly to the metal depletion in the ISM