Molecular complexes in close and far away
- *Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138; and
- ‡Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309
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Edited by A. Welford Castleman, Jr., Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, and approved March 13, 2006 (received for review September 20, 2005)
Abstract
In this review, gas-phase chemistry of interstellar media and some planetary atmospheres is extended to include molecular complexes. Although the composition, density, and temperature of the environments discussed are very different, molecular complexes have recently been considered as potential contributors to chemistry. The complexes reviewed include strongly bound aggregates of molecules with ions, intermediate-strength hydrogen bonded complexes (primarily hydrates), and weakly bonded van der Waals molecules. In low-density, low-temperature environments characteristic of giant molecular clouds, molecular synthesis, known to involve gas-phase ion-molecule reactions and chemistry at the surface of dust and ice grains is extended here to involve molecular ionic clusters. At the high density and high temperatures found on planetary atmospheres, molecular complexes contribute to both atmospheric chemistry and climate. Using the observational, laboratory, and theoretical database, the role of molecular complexes in close and far away is discussed.
Footnotes
- †To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: billk{at}otto.harvard.edu
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Author contributions: W.K. and V.V. wrote the paper.
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Conflict of interest statement: No conflicts declared.
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This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the PNAS office.
- © 2006 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA
