Laboratory Detection of the Methoxymethyl Radical, CH3OCH2, Using Faraday Rotation and Chirped-pulse Techniques in the (Sub)millimeter Wave Range
Modeling the abundance of interstellar complex organic molecules in space is a major challenge for astrophysicists. The relative roles of gas-phase and grain-surface processes in the formation and destruction of such large molecules remain unclear. Methyl formate (CH _3 OCHO, MF) and dimethyl ether...
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2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adba5c |
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| author | Rosemonde Chahbazian Marie-Aline Martin-Drumel Olivier Pirali |
| author_facet | Rosemonde Chahbazian Marie-Aline Martin-Drumel Olivier Pirali |
| author_sort | Rosemonde Chahbazian |
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| description | Modeling the abundance of interstellar complex organic molecules in space is a major challenge for astrophysicists. The relative roles of gas-phase and grain-surface processes in the formation and destruction of such large molecules remain unclear. Methyl formate (CH _3 OCHO, MF) and dimethyl ether (CH _3 OCH _3 , DME) species have been detected at relatively high abundances in both warm and cold objects of the interstellar medium (ISM), challenging an initial hypothesis favoring grain-surface processes for their formation. In this context, the methoxymethyl radical (CH _3 OCH _2 , RDME) has been proposed as a key species linking the abundances of MF and DME in the gas phase. Its detection may provide crucial information to disentangle and quantify the different processes involved in the formation and destruction of MF and DME. To support the search for RDME in space, we present the laboratory detection of its pure rotational spectrum in the vibronic ground state. Special care was taken to measure the frequencies of transitions expected to be intense under cold interstellar conditions. In total, we assigned and fitted 1007 transitions of the RDME with ${N}^{{\prime} }$ and ${K}_{a}^{{\prime} }$ values up to 34 and 5, respectively. A reliable spectral catalog has been generated using the spectroscopic parameters derived from the fit and can be used confidently for future searches of the RDME radical in the ISM. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1494d04357bf4a64bf099ba855807d7c |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
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| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-1494d04357bf4a64bf099ba855807d7c2025-08-20T02:48:23ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-01982216210.3847/1538-4357/adba5cLaboratory Detection of the Methoxymethyl Radical, CH3OCH2, Using Faraday Rotation and Chirped-pulse Techniques in the (Sub)millimeter Wave RangeRosemonde Chahbazian0https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1385-0745Marie-Aline Martin-Drumel1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5460-4294Olivier Pirali2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4332-1440Université Paris-Saclay , CNRS, Institut des Sciences Moléculaire d’Orsay, 91400 Orsay, FranceUniversité Paris-Saclay , CNRS, Institut des Sciences Moléculaire d’Orsay, 91400 Orsay, FranceUniversité Paris-Saclay , CNRS, Institut des Sciences Moléculaire d’Orsay, 91400 Orsay, FranceModeling the abundance of interstellar complex organic molecules in space is a major challenge for astrophysicists. The relative roles of gas-phase and grain-surface processes in the formation and destruction of such large molecules remain unclear. Methyl formate (CH _3 OCHO, MF) and dimethyl ether (CH _3 OCH _3 , DME) species have been detected at relatively high abundances in both warm and cold objects of the interstellar medium (ISM), challenging an initial hypothesis favoring grain-surface processes for their formation. In this context, the methoxymethyl radical (CH _3 OCH _2 , RDME) has been proposed as a key species linking the abundances of MF and DME in the gas phase. Its detection may provide crucial information to disentangle and quantify the different processes involved in the formation and destruction of MF and DME. To support the search for RDME in space, we present the laboratory detection of its pure rotational spectrum in the vibronic ground state. Special care was taken to measure the frequencies of transitions expected to be intense under cold interstellar conditions. In total, we assigned and fitted 1007 transitions of the RDME with ${N}^{{\prime} }$ and ${K}_{a}^{{\prime} }$ values up to 34 and 5, respectively. A reliable spectral catalog has been generated using the spectroscopic parameters derived from the fit and can be used confidently for future searches of the RDME radical in the ISM.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adba5cHigh resolution spectroscopyMolecular physicsLaboratory astrophysicsSpectral line listsMillimeter-wave spectroscopyRotational spectroscopy |
| spellingShingle | Rosemonde Chahbazian Marie-Aline Martin-Drumel Olivier Pirali Laboratory Detection of the Methoxymethyl Radical, CH3OCH2, Using Faraday Rotation and Chirped-pulse Techniques in the (Sub)millimeter Wave Range The Astrophysical Journal High resolution spectroscopy Molecular physics Laboratory astrophysics Spectral line lists Millimeter-wave spectroscopy Rotational spectroscopy |
| title | Laboratory Detection of the Methoxymethyl Radical, CH3OCH2, Using Faraday Rotation and Chirped-pulse Techniques in the (Sub)millimeter Wave Range |
| title_full | Laboratory Detection of the Methoxymethyl Radical, CH3OCH2, Using Faraday Rotation and Chirped-pulse Techniques in the (Sub)millimeter Wave Range |
| title_fullStr | Laboratory Detection of the Methoxymethyl Radical, CH3OCH2, Using Faraday Rotation and Chirped-pulse Techniques in the (Sub)millimeter Wave Range |
| title_full_unstemmed | Laboratory Detection of the Methoxymethyl Radical, CH3OCH2, Using Faraday Rotation and Chirped-pulse Techniques in the (Sub)millimeter Wave Range |
| title_short | Laboratory Detection of the Methoxymethyl Radical, CH3OCH2, Using Faraday Rotation and Chirped-pulse Techniques in the (Sub)millimeter Wave Range |
| title_sort | laboratory detection of the methoxymethyl radical ch3och2 using faraday rotation and chirped pulse techniques in the sub millimeter wave range |
| topic | High resolution spectroscopy Molecular physics Laboratory astrophysics Spectral line lists Millimeter-wave spectroscopy Rotational spectroscopy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adba5c |
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