Advancing Interstellar Aromatic and Carbon-Based Chemistry: An Integrated Experimental, Theoretical, and Astronomical Approach

推进星际芳香族和碳基化学：综合实验、理论和天文学方法

• 批准号: 2307137
• 负责人: Michael McCarthy
• 金额: $ 50.72万
• 依托单位: Smithsonian Institution Astrophysical Observatory
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-07-15 至 2026-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2307137&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Advancing; Interstellar; Aromatic; Carbon; Based

Carbon is an extraordinarily versatile chemical element due to its ability to form long chains and rings (i.e., catenation). This attribute is responsible for the incredible variety of organic compounds in nature as well as biology itself. While large carbon-based molecules such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and fullerenes are ubiquitous in space, an unexpectedly rich reservoir of smaller catenated carbon structures was recently discovered in nearby cold molecular clouds. The team will conduct a combined laboratory and theoretical effort (in coordination with sensitive radio observations) to obtain new spectra to identify new organic (ringed or otherwise) molecules, determine the chemical pathways by which five- and six-Carbon rings – building blocks of organic chemistry - form and eventually evolve into PAHs and more complicated structures. Laboratory work will take advantage of equipment upgrades as well as improved analysis/diagnostic tools and algorithms, many of which with applications outside of astronomy. This work will provide research experience for undergraduate and graduate students as well advancing the careers of two postdocs.Through a closely coordinated program of laboratory measurements, theoretical calculations, and astronomical observations, the research team will strive for a much deeper understanding of complex carbon chemistry, including the specific pathways that form small aromatic rings and the subsequent reactions that lead to much larger and complicated carbon catenates. The proposed research will have wide ranging implications, from the sources of the ubiquitous infrared and optical features seen along many different lines of sight, to the formation of stars and planets. The proposed laboratory studies will result in rapid, unbiased, and robust diagnostic tools to analyze complex mixtures de novo and provide critical tests of fundamental reactions and their product species. Both will have applicability in a wide range of scientific disciplines beyond their immediate astrochemical applications.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

碳是一种非常通用的化学元件，因为它能够形成长链和环（即搭配）。该属性是自然界以及生物学本身的令人难以置信的各种有机化合物的原因。虽然大型碳基分子（例如多环芳烃（PAHS）和富勒烯在空间中都是无处不在的，但最近在附近的冷分子云中发现了一个意外的较小融合碳结构的储层。该团队将进行合并的实验室和理论努力（与敏感的无线电观察协调），以获取新的光谱以识别新的有机（环或其他方式）分子，确定化学途径，通过该化学途径，五碳和六碳环（五碳环）（有机化学的基础） - 形成并最终成立PAHS和更复杂的结构。实验室工作将利用设备升级以及改进的分析/诊断工具和算法，其中许多都在天文学之外进行应用。这项工作将为本科生和研究生提供研究经验，并很好地促进了两个邮政研究的职业。通过一项紧密协调的实验室测量计划，理论计算和天文观察，研究团队将努力更深入地了解复杂的碳化学，包括形成小芳香族和后续反应的特定途径，并将其较大的心置和后续的反应构成大量的心置。拟议的研究将具有广泛的含义，从无处不在的红外和光学特征的来源到沿着许多不同的视线，到恒星和行星的形成。拟议的实验室研究将导致快速，无偏见且可靠的诊断工具分析复合物混合物，并提供对基本反应及其产品物种的重要测试。两者都将在其直接的天文学应用以外的广泛科学学科中适用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准，被认为是通过评估而被视为珍贵的。