Astrochemistry During the Formation of Stars

Abstract

Star-forming regions show a rich and varied chemistry, including the presence of complex organic molecules - both in the cold gas distributed on large scales, and in the hot regions close to young stars where protoplanetary disks arise. Recent advances in observational techniques have opened new possibilities for studying this chemistry. In particular, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has made it possible to study astrochemistry down to Solar System size scales, while also revealing molecules of increasing variety and complexity. In this review, we discuss recent observations of the chemistry of star-forming environments, with a particular focus on complex organic molecules, taking context from the laboratory experiments and chemical models that they have stimulated. The key takeaway points are: The physical evolution of individual sources plays a crucial role in their inferred chemical signatures, and remains an important area for observations and models to elucidate. Comparisons of the abundances measured toward different star-forming environments (high-mass versus low-mass, Galactic center versus Galactic disk) reveal a remarkable similarity, an indication that the underlying chemistry is relatively independent of variations in their physical conditions. Studies of molecular isotopologs in star-forming regions provide a link with measurements in our own Solar System, and thus may shed light on the chemical similarities and differences expected in other planetary systems.

Invited review to be published in Annual Reviews of Astronomy and Astrophysics; 55 pages, 10 figures

References in corpus (86)

• Complex Chemistry in Star-Forming Regions: An Expanded Gas-Grain Warm-up Chemical Model
• Formation of methyl formate and other organic species in the warm-up phase of hot molecular cores
• Non-thermal desorption from interstellar dust grains via exothermic surface reactions
• Photochemistry and astrochemistry: photochemical pathways to interstellar complex organic molecules
• The ALMA Protostellar Interferometric Line Survey (PILS): First results from an unbiased submillimeter wavelength line survey of the Class 0 protostellar binary IRAS 16293-2422 with ALMA
• Testing grain-surface chemistry in massive hot-core regions
• Discovery of the Interstellar Chiral Molecule Propylene Oxide (CH${}_3$CHCH${}_2$O)
• Formation of complex organic molecules in cold objects: the role of gas phase reactions
• The ancient heritage of water ice in the solar system
• Herschel Survey of Galactic OH+, H2O+, and H3O+: Probing the Molecular Hydrogen Fraction and Cosmic-Ray Ionization Rate
• First detection of triply-deuterated methanol
• Detection of a branched alkyl molecule in the interstellar medium: iso-propyl cyanide
• Constraining the abundances of complex organics in the inner regions of solar-type protostars
• Experimental evidence for Glycolaldehyde and Ethylene Glycol formation by surface hydrogenation of CO molecules under dense molecular cloud conditions
• Signs of Early-Stage Disk Growth Revealed with ALMA
• Shedding light on the formation of the pre-biotic molecule formamide with ASAI
• The ALMA-PILS survey: Inventory of complex organic molecules towards IRAS 16293-2422 A
• An interferometric study of the low-mass protostar IRAS 16293-2422: small scale organic chemistry
• Ingredients for Solar-like Systems: protostar IRAS 16293-2422 B versus comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
• Multilayer formation and evaporation of deuterated ices in prestellar and protostellar cores
• Seeds of Life in Space (SOLIS) III. Formamide in protostellar shocks: evidence for gas-phase formation
• A new modified-rate approach for gas-grain chemical simulations
• Herschel observations of EXtra-Ordinary Sources: Analysis of the HIFI 1.2 THz Wide Spectral Survey Toward Orion KL I. Methods
• The formation of ethylene glycol and other complex organic molecules in star-forming regions
• Deuterated methanol in the pre-stellar core L1544
• Search for anions in molecular sources: C4H- detection in L1527
• Formation and Atmosphere of Complex Organic Molecules of the HH 212 Protostellar Disk
• Molecules with a peptide link in protostellar shocks: a comprehensive study of L1157
• Chemical modelling of complex organic molecules with peptide-like bonds in star-forming regions
• Herschel observations of EXtraordinary Sources: Analysis of the full Herschel/HIFI molecular line survey of Sagittarius B2(N)
• Simultaneous Hydrogenation and UV-photolysis Experiments of NO in CO-rich Interstellar Ice Analogues; linking HNCO, OCN-, NH2CHO and NH2OH
• Complex organics in IRAS 4A revisited with ALMA and PdBI: Striking contrast between two neighbouring protostellar cores
• L483: Warm Carbon-Chain Chemistry Source Harboring Hot Corino Activity
• The ALMA View of the OMC1 Explosion in Orion
• Benchmarking spin-state chemistry in starless core models
• Molecule sublimation as a tracer of protostellar accretion: Evidence for accretion bursts from high angular resolution C18O images
• Formation of the prebiotic molecule NH${}_2$CHO on astronomical amorphous solid water surfaces: accurate tunneling rate calculations
• High-Energy Neutrino Flares From X-Ray Bright and Dark Tidal Disruptions Events
• Deuteration and evolution in the massive star formation process: the role of surface chemistry
• Observations of Infalling and Rotational Motions on a 1,000-AU Scale around 17 Class 0 and 0/I Protostars: Hints of Disk Growth and Magnetic Braking?
• Detection of glycolaldehyde towards the solar-type protostar NGC1333 IRAS2A
• First detection of the pre-biotic molecule glycolonitrile (HOCH2CN) in the interstellar medium
• Discovery of a ~5 day characteristic timescale in the Kepler power spectrum of Zw 229-15
• Spectral imaging of the Sagittarius B2 region in multiple 3-mm molecular lines with the Mopra telescope
• First Abundance Measurement of Organic Molecules in the Atmosphere of HH 212 Protostellar Disk
• Chemical tracers of episodic accretion in low-mass protostars
• Warm water deuterium fractionation in IRAS 16293-2422 - The high-resolution ALMA and SMA view
• Hydrogenation at low temperatures does not always lead to saturation: the case of HNCO
• Chronology of Episodic Accretion in Protostars -- an ALMA survey of the CO and H${}_2$O snowlines
• Water delivery from cores to disks: deuteration as a probe of the prestellar inheritance of H2O
• An ALMA Early Science survey of molecular absorption lines toward PKS1830-211 -- Analysis of the absorption profiles
• ALMA observations of the kinematics and chemistry of disc formation
• Physical and chemical fingerprint of protostellar disc formation
• Chemical complexity induced by efficient ice evaporation in the Barnard 5 molecular cloud
• The ALMA-PILS survey: First detection of nitrous acid (HONO) in the interstellar medium
• The Physical and chemical structure of Sagittarius B2 -- IV. Converging filaments in the high-mass cluster forming region Sgr B2(N)
• The chemistry of episodic accretion in embedded objects. 2D radiation thermo-chemical models of the post-burst phase
• Methylamine and other simple N-bearing species in the hot cores NGC 6334I MM1-3
• Formation of interstellar propanal and 1-propanol ice: a pathway involving solid-state CO hydrogenation
• Chemical Segregation in Hot Cores With Disk Candidates: An investigation with ALMA
• Deep K-band observations of TMC-1 with the Green Bank Telescope: Detection of HC7O, non-detection of HC11N, and a search for new organic molecules
• 13C-methyl formate: observations of a sample of high mass star-forming regions including Orion-KL and spectroscopic characterization
• ALMA observations of water deuteration: A physical diagnostic of the formation of protostars
• The complexity of Orion: an ALMA view. II. gGg'-Ethylene Glycol and Acetic Acid
• MC${}^2$: Subaru and Hubble Space Telescope Weak-Lensing Analysis of the Double Radio Relic Galaxy Cluster PLCK G287.0+32.9
• Interferometric observations of warm deuterated methanol in the inner regions of low-mass protostars
• Complex organic molecules in diffuse clouds along the line of sight to Sgr B2
• A high resolution study of complex organic molecules in hot cores
• Simulations of ice chemistry in cometary nuclei
• Widespread Presence of Glycolaldehyde and Ethylene Glycol Around Sagittarius B2
• SMA Observations of W3(OH) Complex: Physical and Chemical Differentiation between W3(H${}_2$O) and W3(OH)
• Kinetics and mechanisms of the acid-base reaction between NH${}_3$ and HCOOH in interstellar ice analogs
• Molecular analysis of a high-mass prestellar core candidate in W43-MM1
• Temperature profiles of young disk-like structures: The case of IRAS 16293A
• Exploring molecular complexity with ALMA (EMoCA): Complex isocyanides in Sgr B2(N)
• Water around IRAS15398-3359 observed with ALMA
• Searching for Planets in Holey Debris Disks with the Apodizing Phase Plate
• An accretion-jet model for M87: interpreting the spectral energy distribution and Faraday rotation measure
• Small-scale physical and chemical structure of diffuse and translucent molecular clouds along the line of sight to Sgr B2
• Submillimeter spectroscopy and astronomical searches of vinyl mercaptan, C${}_2$H${}_3$SH
• Search for methylamine in high mass hot cores
• Hot and dense water in the inner 25 AU of SVS13-A
• The complexity of Orion: an ALMA view III. The explosion impact
• Laboratory spectroscopic study and astronomical detection of vibrationally excited n-propyl cyanide
• Blazar Sheath Illumination of the Outer Molecular Torus: A Resolution of the Seed Photon Problem for the far-GeV Blazar flares
• Deuterated methanol toward NGC 7538-IRS1

Cited by in corpus (145)

• Formation of complex organic molecules in hot molecular cores through nondiffusive grain-surface and ice-mantle chemistry
• CORINOS I: JWST/MIRI Spectroscopy and Imaging of a Class 0 protostar IRAS 15398-3359
• Complex organic molecules in low-mass protostars on Solar System scales -- II. Nitrogen-bearing species
• Molecules with ALMA at Planet-forming Scales (MAPS). IX. Distribution and Properties of the Large Organic Molecules HC${}_3$N, CH${}_3$CN, and $c$-C${}_3$H${}_2$
• Precursors of fatty alcohols in the ISM: Discovery of n-propanol
• Sulfur Ice Astrochemistry: A Review of Laboratory Studies
• ATOMS:ALMA Three-millimeter Observations of Massive Star-forming regions -- III :Catalogues of candidate hot molecular cores and Hyper/Ultra compact HII regions
• LIDA - The Leiden Ice Database for Astrochemistry
• A pathway to peptides in space through the condensation of atomic carbon
• Carbon-Chain Chemistry in the Interstellar Medium
• JWST/MIRI Spectroscopy of the Disk of the Young Eruptive Star EX Lup in Quiescence
• Binding Energy Evaluation Platform: A database of quantum chemical binding energy distributions for the astrochemical community
• Laboratory and Computational Studies of Interstellar Ices
• CoCCoA: Complex Chemistry in hot Cores with ALMA. Selected oxygen-bearing species
• Hunt for complex cyanides in protostellar ices with JWST: Tentative detection of CH${}_3$CN and C${}_2$H${}_5$CN
• ATOMS: ALMA Three-millimeter Observations of Massive Star-forming regions -- VIII. A search for hot cores by using C${}_2$H${}_5$CN, CH${}_3$OCHO and CH${}_3$OH lines
• Diffusion activation energy and desorption activation energy for astrochemically relevant species on water ice show no clear relation
• JOYS+: link between ice and gas of complex organic molecules. Comparing JWST and ALMA data of two low-mass protostars
• JWST Observations of Young protoStars (JOYS): overview of program and early results
• Detection of Complex Organic Molecules in Young Starless Core L1521E
• Formation of complex organic molecules in molecular clouds: acetaldehyde, vinyl alcohol, ketene, and ethanol via the "energetic" processing of C${}_2$H${}_2$ ice
• Interstellar detection and chemical modeling of iso-propanol and its normal isomer
• Reducing the complexity of chemical networks via interpretable autoencoders
• X-ray induced chemistry of water and related molecules in low-mass protostellar envelopes
• Electron Irradiation and Thermal Chemistry Studies of Interstellar and Planetary Ice Analogues at the ICA Astrochemistry Facility
• Resolving desorption of complex organic molecules in a hot core: Transition from non-thermal to thermal desorption or two-step thermal desorption?
• Infrared spectra of complex organic molecules in astronomically relevant ice mixtures. V. Methyl cyanide (acetonitrile)
• Organic chemistry in the protosolar analogue HOPS-108: Environment matters
• JWST Observations of Young protoStars (JOYS). Overview of gaseous molecular emission and absorption in low-mass protostars
• Chemical survey of Class I protostars with the IRAM-30m
• Successive deuteration in low-mass star-forming regions: the case of D${}_2$-methanol (CHD${}_2$OH) in IRAS 16293-2422
• Toward the limits of complexity of interstellar chemistry: Rotational spectroscopy and astronomical search for n- and i-butanal
• JWST detections of amorphous and crystalline HDO ice toward massive protostars
• The ALMA Survey of 70 $\mu \mathrm{m}$ Dark High-mass Clumps in Early Stages (ASHES). VII: Chemistry of Embedded Dense Cores
• Efficient formation pathway of methyl formate: the role of OH radicals on ice dust
• Importance of source structure on complex organics emission. I. Observations of CH${}_3$OH from low-mass to high-mass protostars
• A New "Non-energetic" Route to Complex Organic Molecules in Astrophysical Environments: The C + H${}_2$O $\to$ H${}_2$CO Solid-state Reaction
• Protostellar Interferometric Line Survey of the Cygnus X region (PILS-Cygnus) -- First results: observations of CygX-N30
• Characterizing the line emission from molecular clouds. II. A comparative study of California, Perseus, and Orion A
• Sulphur-rich cold gas around the hot core precursor G328.2551-0.5321. An APEX unbiased spectral survey of the 2 mm, 1.2 mm, and 0.8 mm atmospheric windows
• ALMA-IMF XI: The sample of hot core candidates A rich population of young high-mass proto-stars unveiled by the emission of methyl formate
• Predicting binding energies of astrochemically relevant molecules via machine learning
• ALMA Observations of Molecular Complexity in the Large Magellanic Cloud: The N105 Star-Forming Region
• Hot corino chemistry in the Class I binary source Ser-emb 11
• The SVS13-A Class I chemical complexity as revealed by S-bearing species. SOLIS XIII
• Complex organic molecules detected in twelve high-mass star-forming regions with Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)
• Multi-line observations of CH${}_3$OH, c-C${}_3$H${}_2$ and HNCO towards L1544: Dissecting the core structure with chemical differentiation
• ALMA observations of the Extended Green Object G19.01$-$0.03: I. A Keplerian disc in a massive protostellar system
• Modeling chemistry during star formation: Water deuteration in dynamic star-forming regions
• Shocking Sgr B2(N1) with its own outflow: A new perspective on segregation between O- and N-bearing molecules
• ALMA-IMF IV -- A comparative study of the main hot cores in W43-MM1: detection, temperature and molecular composition
• Rotational and rovibrational spectroscopy of CD${}_3$OH with an account of CD${}_3$OH toward IRAS 16293$-$2422
• Clustered star formation at early evolutionary stages. Physical and chemical analysis of the young star-forming regions ISOSS J22478+6357 and ISOSS J23053+5953
• Spectroscopic confirmation of high-amplitude eruptive YSOs and dipping giants from the VVV survey
• Torsional-rotational spectrum of doubly-deuterated dimethyl ether (CH${}_3$OCHD${}_2$) -- First ALMA detection in the interstellar medium
• Evidence for ubiquitous carbon grain destruction in hot protostellar envelopes
• Chemical modeling of the complex organic molecules in the extended region around Sagittarius B2
• The accretion burst of the massive young stellar object G323.46 -0.08
• Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models to Predict the Density of Molecular Clouds
• Importance of source structure on complex organics emission III. Effect of disks around massive protostars
• The Molecular Composition of Shadowed Protosolar Disk Midplanes beyond the Water Snowline
• A deep search for large complex organic species toward IRAS16293-2422 B at 3 mm with ALMA
• Laboratory rotational spectroscopy of acrylamide and search for acrylamide and propionamide toward Sgr B2(N) with ALMA
• Reexploring Molecular Complexity with ALMA: Insights into chemical differentiation from the molecular composition of hot cores in Sgr B2(N2)
• Investigating the hot molecular core, G10.47+0.03: A pit of nitrogen-bearing complex organic molecules
• Correlations of Methyl Formate (CH3OCHO), Dimethyl Ether (CH3OCH3) and Ketene (H2CCO) in High-mass Star-forming Regions
• Chemical Differentiation around Five Massive Protostars Revealed by ALMA -Carbon-Chain Species, Oxygen-/Nitrogen-Bearing Complex Organic Molecules-
• PRODIGE -- Envelope to Disk with NOEMA III. The origin of complex organic molecule emission in SVS13A
• Radial and vertical constraints on the icy origin of H${}_2$CO in the HD 163296 Protoplanetary Disk
• ALMA reveals thermal and non-thermal desorption of methanol ice in the HD 100546 protoplanetary disk
• Complex organic molecules uncover deeply embedded precursors of hot cores
• The Opaque Heart of the Galaxy IC 860: Analogous Protostellar, Kinematics, Morphology, and Chemistry
• Linking ice and gas in the Lambda Orionis Barnard 35A cloud
• Molecular Mobility of Extraterrestrial Ices: Surface Diffusion in Astrochemistry and Planetary Science
• Modeling snowline locations in protostars: The impact of the structure of protostellar cloud cores
• Carbon Chain Chemistry in Hot-Core Regions around Three Massive Young Stellar Objects Associated with 6.7 GHz Methanol Masers
• The ALMA-ATOMS survey: Vibrationally excited HC${}_3$N lines in hot cores
• Cold Deuterium Fractionation in the Nearest Planet-Forming Disk
• Ice Age : Chemo-dynamical modeling of Cha-MMS1 to predict new solid-phase species for detection with JWST
• Broadband spectroscopy of astrophysical ice analogues: II. Optical constants of CO and CO${}_2$ ices in the terahertz and infrared ranges
• The Detection of Deuterated Water in the Large Magellanic Cloud with ALMA
• A spectral survey of CH3CCH in the Hot Molecular Core G331.512-0.103
• Molecules in the peculiar age-defying source IRAS 19312+1950
• CoCCoA: Complex Chemistry in hot Cores with ALMA. The chemical evolution of acetone from ice to gas
• A Survey of Deuterated Ammonia in the Cepheus Star-Forming Region L1251
• GGCHEMPY: A pure Python-based gas-grain chemical code for efficient simulation of interstellar chemistry
• Physical conditions for dust grain alignment in Class 0 protostellar cores II. The role of the radiation field in models aligning/disrupting dust grains
• Determination of the branching ratio of CH${}_3$OH + OH reaction on water ice surface at 10 K
• Signatures of UV radiation in low-mass protostars I. Origin of HCN and CN emission in the Serpens Main region
• The physical and chemical structure of high-mass star-forming regions. Unraveling chemical complexity with the NOEMA large program "CORE"
• Vibrationally-excited Lines of HC${}_3$N Associated with the Molecular Disk around the G24.78+0.08 A1 Hyper-compact H${}_{\mathrm{II}}$ Region
• Investigation of the rotational spectrum of CD${}_3$OD and an astronomical search toward IRAS 16293$-$2422
• Interstellar Glycolaldehyde, Methyl Formate, and Acetic Acid. II. Chemical Modeling of the Bimodal Abundance Pattern in NGC 6334I
• Multiple molecular outflows and fragmentation in the IRDC core G34.43+00.24 MM1
• Constraints on the non-thermal desorption of methanol in the cold core LDN 429-C
• Carbon-Chain Chemistry vs. Complex-Organic-Molecule Chemistry in Envelopes around Three Low-Mass Young Stellar Objects in the Perseus Region
• Protonated hydrogen cyanide as a tracer of pristine molecular gas
• A deep search for Complex Organic Molecules toward the protoplanetary disk of V883 Ori
• Detection of antifreeze molecule ethylene glycol in the hot molecular core G358.93$-$0.03 MM1
• Nascent chemical complexity in prestellar core IRAS 16293E: complex organics and deuterated methanol
• The SOFIA Massive (SOMA) Star Formation Q-band follow-up I. Carbon-chain chemistry of intermediate-mass protostars
• PRODIGE VI -- Envelope to Disk with NOEMA: VI. The Missing Sulfur Problem
• Infrared action spectroscopy as tool for probing gas-phase dynamics: Protonated Dimethyl Ether, (CH${}_3$)${}_2$OH${}^{+}$, formed by the reaction of CH${}_3$OH${}_2^{+}$ with CH${}_3$OH
• Cyanopolyyne line survey towards high-mass star-forming regions with TMRT
• Density Functional Theory Calculations on the Interstellar Formation of Biomolecules
• A Possible Chemical Clock in High-mass Star-forming Regions: N(HC3N)/N(N2H+)?
• Catalytic role of HI in the interstellar synthesis of complex organic molecule
• Millimeter wave spectrum and search for vinyl isocyanate toward Sgr B2(N) with ALMA
• Protostars at Subsolar Metallicity: First Detection of Large Solid-state Complex Organic Molecules in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• Linking ice and gas in the Coronet cluster in Corona Australis
• A deep Search for Ethylene Glycol and Glycolonitrile in the V883 Ori Protoplanetary Disk
• Solid Accretion onto Neptune-Mass Planets I: In-Situ Accretion and Constraints from the metallicity of Uranus and Neptune
• The Effelsberg survey of FU Orionis and EX Lupi objects I. -- Host environments of FUors/EXors traced by NH${}_3$
• Water emission tracing active star formation from the Milky Way to high-$z$ galaxies
• Broadband infrared spectroscopy of methanol isotopologues in pure, H2O-rich, and CO-rich ice analogues
• Unmasking the physical information inherent to interstellar spectral line profiles with Machine Learning. I. Application of LTE to HCN and HNC transitions
• Parsec scales of carbon chain and complex organic molecules in AFGL 2591 and IRAS 20126
• Complex Organic Molecules towards the central molecular zone of NGC 253
• Molecular inventory of a young eruptive star's environment -- Case study of the classical FU Orionis star V1057 Cyg
• Millimeter-wave spectroscopy of the ${}^{13}$CH${}_3$OD isotopic species of methyl alcohol
• Looking for evidence of high-mass star formation at core scale in a massive molecular clump
• Star-formation-rate estimates from water emission
• Early Planet Formation in Embedded Disks (eDisk). XX. Constraining the Chemical Tracers of Young Protostellar Sources
• Identification of molecular line emission using Convolutional Neural Networks
• Chemical templates of the Central Molecular Zone. Shock and protostellar object signatures under Galactic Center conditions
• Interrelations between Astrochemistry and Galactic Dynamics
• Comparison of modified black-body fits for the estimation of dust optical depths in interstellar clouds
• CHemical Evolution in MassIve star-forming COres (CHEMICO). I. Evolution of the temperature structure
• Effects of grain temperature distribution on organic protostellar envelope chemistry
• VVV-WIT-13: an eruptive young star with cool molecular features
• Equation-of-motion coupled-cluster variants in combination with perturbative triples corrections in strong magnetic fields
• Organic Acid Chemistry in ISM: Detection of Formic Acid and its Prebiotic Chemistry in Hot Core G358.93$-$0.03 MM1
• Revisiting G29.862-0.0044: a jet cavity disrupted by an outflow in a likely young stellar object wide binary system
• 3 mm Spectroscopic Observations of Massive Star-Forming Regions with IRAM 30-m
• Protoplanetary Disk Chemistry
• Spatial distribution of organics in the Horsehead nebula: Signposts of chemistry driven by atomic carbon
• Hunting for methanol in the water rich, planet forming disk around HL Tau
• Digging into the Massive Protostar S255IR NIRS3: A Study of Nitrogen-Bearing Molecules and Their Prebiotic Chemistry
• Research on the Interstellar Medium and Star Formation in the Galaxy: An Indian Perspective
• ATOMS: ALMA Three-millimeter Observations of Massive Star-forming regions -- X. Chemical differentiation among the massive cores in G9.62+0.19
• CO Diffusion on Interstellar Amorphous Solid Water: A Computational Study
• Chemistry of Dark Molecular Clouds
• Setting the Stage: The Early History of the Solar System
• Parsec-scale SiO emission in the Galactic Center
• Clump-scale chemistry in the NGC2264-D cluster-forming region