The family of amide molecules toward NGC 6334I

Abstract

Amide molecules produced in space could play a key role in the formation of biomolecules on a young planetary object. However, the formation and chemical network of amide molecules in space is not well understood. In this work, ALMA observations are used to study a number of amide(-like) molecules toward the high-mass star-forming region NGC 6334I. The first detections of cyanamide (NH${}_2$CN), acetamide (CH${}_3$C(O)NH${}_2$) and N-methylformamide (CH${}_3$NHCHO) are presented for this source. These are combined with analyses of isocyanic acid (HNCO) and formamide (NH${}_2$CHO) and a tentative detection of urea (carbamide; NH${}_2$C(O)NH${}_2$). Abundance correlations show that most amides are likely formed in related reactions occurring in ices on interstellar dust grains in NGC 6334I. However, in an expanded sample of sources, large abundance variations are seen for NH${}_2$CN that seem to depend on the source type, which suggests that the physical conditions within the source heavily influence the production of this species. The rich amide inventory of NGC 6334I strengthens the case that interstellar molecules can contribute to the emergence of biomolecules on planets.

Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

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Cited by in corpus (7)

• Complex organic molecules in low-mass protostars on solar system scales -- I. Oxygen-bearing species
• The GUAPOS project II. A comprehensive study of peptide-like bond molecules
• 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
• The prebiotic molecular inventory of Serpens SMM1 I. An investigation of the isomers CH${}_3$NCO and HOCH${}_2$CN
• Propionamide (C2H5CONH2): The largest peptide-like molecule in space
• First survey of HCNH${}^{+}$ in high-mass star-forming cloud cores
• ATOMS: ALMA Three-millimeter Observations of Massive Star-forming regions -- X. Chemical differentiation among the massive cores in G9.62+0.19