ON THE FORMATION OF BENZOIC ACID AND HIGHER-ORDER BENZENE CARBOXYLIC ACIDS IN INTERSTELLAR MODEL ICE GRAINS

Abstract

With a binary ice mixture of benzene (C 6 H 6 ) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) at 10 K under contamination-free ultrahigh vacuum conditions, the formation of benzene carboxylic acids in interstellar ice grains was studied. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to probe for the formation of new species during the chemical processing of the ice mixture and during the following temperature-programmed desorption. Newly formed benzene carboxylic acid species, i.e., benzoic acid, as well as meta - and para -benzene dicarboxylic acid, were assigned using newly emerging bands in the infrared spectrum; a reaction mechanism, along with rate constants, was proposed utilizing the kinetic fitting of the coupled differential equations.