The Quest for a Plausible Formation Route of Formyl Cyanide in the Interstellar Medium: A State-of-the-art Quantum-chemical and Kinetic Approach

Interstellar complex organic molecules are assumed to be mainly formed on dust-grain surfaces. However, neutral gas-phase reactions in the interstellar medium can play an important role. In this paper, by investigating the reaction between aldehydes and the cyano radical, we show that both formaldehyde (CH2O) and acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) can lead to the formation of formyl cyanide (HCOCN). Owing to accurate quantum-chemical computations followed by rate constant evaluations, we have been able to suggest and validate an effective mechanism for the formation of HCOCN, one of the molecules observed in the ISM. Quite interestingly, the mechanism starting from CH2O is very effective at a low temperature, while that involving CH3CHO becomes more efficient at temperatures above 200 K.