On the temperature dependence of the rate coefficient of formation of C2+ from C + CH+

Abstract

We carry out quasi-classical trajectory calculations for the C + CH+ → C2+ + H reaction on an ad hoc computed high-level ab initio potential energy surface. Thermal rate coefficients at the temperatures of relevance in cold interstellar clouds are derived and compared with the assumed, temperature-independent estimates publicly available in kinetic data bases KIDA and UDfA. For a temperature of 10 K the data base value overestimates by a factor of 2 the one obtained by us (thus improperly enhancing the destruction route of CH+ in astrochemical kinetic models) which is seen to double in the temperature range 5-300 K with a sharp increase in the first 50 K. The computed values are fitted via the popular Arrhenius-Kooij formula and best-fitting parameters α = 1.32 × 10-9 cm3 s-1, β = 0.1 and γ = 2.19 K to be included in the online mentioned data bases are provided. Further investigation shows that the temperature dependence of the thermal rate coefficient better conforms to the recently proposed so-called 'deformed Arrhenius' law by Aquilanti and Mundim.