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Observations of Complex Molecules in Low-Mass Protostars
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 December 2011
Abstract
Low-mass star forming regions are rich inventories of complex organic molecules. Furthermore, they show significant chemical diversity even among sources in a similar physical evolutionary stage (i.e. Class 0 sources). One distinct case is the hot corino chemistry characterized by rich existence of saturated complex organic molecules such as HCOOCH3 and C2H5CN, whereas the other is the warm carbon-chain chemistry (WCCC) characterized by extraordinary richness of unsaturated complex organic molecules such as carbon-chain molecules. We here summarize these observational achievements during the last decade, and present a unified picture of carbon chemistry in low-mass protostellar cores. The chemical diversity most likely originates from the source-to-source difference in chemical compositions of grain mantles. In particular, the gas-phase abundance of CH4 evaporated from grain mantles is thought to be a key factor for appearance of WCCC. The origin of the diversity and its evolution to protopranetary disks are discussed.
- Type
- Contributed Papers
- Information
- Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 7 , Symposium S280: The Molecular Universe , June 2011 , pp. 43 - 52
- Copyright
- Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2011
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