English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Observational studies reveal that complex organic molecules (COMs) can befound in various objects associated with different star formation stages. Theidentification of COMs in prestellar cores, i.e., cold environments in whichthermally induced chemistry can be excluded and radiolysis is limited by cosmicrays and cosmic ray induced UV-photons, is particularly important as this stagesets up the initial chemical composition from which ultimately stars andplanets evolve. Recent laboratory results demonstrate that molecules as complexas glycolaldehyde and ethylene glycol are efficiently formed on icy dust grainsvia non-energetic atom addition reactions between accreting H atoms and COmolecules, a process that dominates surface chemistry during the 'CO-freeze outstage' in dense cores. In the present study we demonstrate that a similarmechanism results in the formation of the biologically relevant moleculeglycerol - HOCH2CH(OH)CH2OH - a three-carbon bearing sugar alcohol necessaryfor the formation of membranes of modern living cells and organelles. Ourexperimental results are fully consistent with a suggested reaction scheme inwhich glycerol is formed along a chain of radical-radical and radical-moleculeinteractions between various reactive intermediates produced upon hydrogenationof CO ice or its hydrogenation products. The tentative identification of thechemically related simple sugar glyceraldehyde - HOCH2CH(OH)CHO - is discussedas well. These new laboratory findings indicate that the proposed reactionmechanism holds much potential to form even more complex sugar alcohols andsimple sugars.

Formation of Glycerol through Hydrogenation of CO ice under Prestellar Core Conditions