Methyl isocyanate CH3NCO: An important missing organic in current astrochemical networks

Liton Majumdar (1, 2) , Jean-Christophe Loison (3) , M. Ruaud (4) , P. Gratier (2) , Valentine Wakelam (2) , Audrey Coutens (2)

1 JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
2 AMOR 2018
3 ISM - Institut des Sciences Moléculaires
4 ARC-CREST - NASA Ames Research Center Cooperative for Research in Earth Science in Technology

Methyl isocyanate (CH3NCO) is one of the important complex organic molecules detected on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by Rosetta's Philae lander. It was also detected in hot cores around high-mass protostars along with a recent detection in the solar-type protostar IRAS 16293-2422. We propose here a gas-grain chemical model to form CH3NCO after reviewing various formation pathways with quantum chemical computations. We have used NAUTILUS 3-phase gas-grain chemical model to compare observed abundances in the IRAS 16293-2422. Our chemical model clearly indicates the ice phase origin of CH3NCO.

Domaines: Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]

Liton Majumdar, Jean-Christophe Loison, M. Ruaud, P. Gratier, Valentine Wakelam, et al.. Methyl isocyanate CH3NCO: An important missing organic in current astrochemical networks. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, 2018, 473 (1), pp.L59-L63. ⟨10.1093/mnrasl/slx157⟩. ⟨hal-01599691⟩