Interstellar detection of c-C3D2

TL;DR

This paper reports the first interstellar detection of doubly deuterated cyclopropenylidene, c-C3D2, in starless cores, with abundance ratios supporting gas-phase deuteration processes and introducing a comprehensive gas-grain model including doubly deuterated species.

Contribution

It presents the first detection of c-C3D2 in space and introduces a new gas-grain model that accounts for doubly deuterated molecules.

Findings

c-C3D2 detected with high signal-to-noise ratio in two starless cores.

Doubly deuterated cyclopropenylidene abundance is 0.4-2.1% of the normal species.

Gas-phase processes can explain the observed c-C3D2 abundances.

Abstract

We report the first interstellar detection of c-C3D2. The doubly deuterated cyclopropenylidene, a carbene, has been detected toward the starless cores TMC- 1C and L1544 using the IRAM 30m telescope. The J(Ka,Kc) = 3(0,3)-2(1,2), 3(1,3)-2(0,2), and 2(2,1)-1(1,0) transitions of this species have been observed at 3 mm in both sources. The expected 1:2 intensity ratio has been found in the 3(0,3)-2(1,2) and 3(1,3)-2(0,2) lines, belonging to the para and ortho species respectively. We also observed lines of the main species, c-C3H2, the singly deuterated c-C3HD, and the species with one 13C off of the principal axis of the molecule, c-H13CC2H. The lines of c-C3D2 have been observed with high signal to noise ratio, better than 7.5 sigma in TMC-1C and 9 sigma in L1544. The abundance of doubly deuterated cyclopropenylidene with respect to the normal species is found to be (0.4 - 0.8)% in TMC-1C and (1.2 - 2.1)% in L1544. The deuteration of this small hydrocarbon ring is analysed with a comprehensive gas-grain model, the first including doubly deuterated species. The observed abundances of c-C3D2 can be explained solely by gas-phase processes, supporting the idea that c-C3H2 is a good indicator of gas-phase deuteration.