Methanediol CH2(OH)2 and hydroxymethyl CH2OH+: key organic intermediates on the path to complex organic molecules

Abstract

Context. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations were carried out to study the formation pathways to complex organic molecules when a OH+ projectile hit an interstellar dust grain covered only by methanol molecules. The selected target material is a methanol cluster formed by ten units (CH3OH)10. Aims. The focus of this paper is the process where methanediol CH2(OH)2 and hydroxymethyl CH2OH+, both key organic intermediate molecules, were involved in the formation mechanisms of stable complex organic molecules (COMs). Methods. We performed Born-Oppenheimer (ab initio) molecular dynamics (BOMD) simulations under the hybrid functional of Head-Gordon ωB97X-D. We used the initial kinetic impact energy of 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, and 22 eV. Results. We corroborate that CH2(OH)2 and CH2OH+ are the main precursors to form molecules such as methoxymethanol CH3OCH2OH, the formyl radical HCO, the Criegee biradical CH2OO, and formaldehyde H2Co and its elusive HCOH isomer. We discuss the mechanism formation of these complex organic molecules. We compare the formation pathways with previous theoretical results where both key intermediates are present. The pathways in some cases go through CH2(OH)2 or undergo by CH2OH+. Conclusions. We confirm that CH2(OH)2 and CH2OH+ play a key role on the path to the formation of abundant H2CO. These mechanisms can give insight into alternative pathways relevant to understanding experimental processes with key steps within those precursors.