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Cassini discovered a plethora of neutral and ionised molecules in Titan'sionosphere including, surprisingly, anions and negatively charged moleculesextending up to 13,800 u/q. In this letter we forward model the Cassinielectron spectrometer response function to this unexpected ionosphericcomponent to achieve an increased mass resolving capability for negativelycharged species observed at Titan altitudes of 950-1300 km. We report ondetections consistently centered between 25.8-26.0 u/q and between 49.0-50.1u/q which are identified as belonging to the carbon chain anions,CN$^-$/C$_3$N$^-$ and/or C$_2$H$^-$/C$_4$H$^-$, in agreement with chemicalmodel predictions. At higher ionospheric altitudes, detections at 73-74 u/qcould be attributed to the further carbon chain anions C$_5$N$^-$/C$_6$H$^-$but at lower altitudes and during further encounters, extend over a highermass/charge range. This, as well as further intermediary anions detected at$>$100 u, provide the first evidence for efficient anion chemistry in spaceinvolving structures other than linear chains. Furthermore, at altitudes below$\sim$1100 km, the low mass anions ($<$150 u/q) were found to deplete at a rateproportional to the growth of the larger molecules, a correlation thatindicates the anions are tightly coupled to the growth process. This study addsTitan to an increasing list of astrophysical environments where chain anionshave been observed and shows that anion chemistry plays a role in the formationof complex organics within a planetary atmosphere as well as in theinterstellar medium.

Carbon chain anions and the growth of complex organic molecules in Titan's ionosphere