Gas-grain model of carbon fractionation in dense molecular clouds

TL;DR

This study develops a detailed gas-grain chemical model to understand isotopic fractionation of carbon in dense molecular clouds, revealing complex fractionation patterns and their implications for planetary formation.

Contribution

The paper introduces an updated 13C fractionation model including multiple isotopes and reactions, providing new insights into carbon isotope distributions in molecular clouds.

Findings

Model predicts two main 13C reservoirs: CO and derivatives.

C3 reacts with oxygen, improving agreement with observations.

Hydrogen reactions cause notable 13C fractionation effects.

Abstract

Carbon containing molecules in cold molecular clouds show various levels of isotopic fractionation through multiple observations. To understand such effects, we have developed a new gas-grain chemical model with updated 13C fractionation reactions (also including the corresponding reactions for 15N, 18O and 34S). For chemical ages typical of dense clouds, our nominal model leads to two 13C reservoirs: CO and the species that derive from CO, mainly s-CO and s-CH3OH, as well as C3 in the gas phase. The nominal model leads to strong enrichment in C3, c-C3H2 and C2H in contradiction with observations. When C3 reacts with oxygen atoms the global agreement between the various observations and the simulations is rather good showing variable 13C fractionation levels which are specific to each species. Alternatively, hydrogen atom reactions lead to notable relative 13C fractionation effects for the two non-equivalent isotopologues of C2H, c-C3H2 and C2S. As there are several important fractionation reactions, some carbon bearing species are enriched in 13C, particularly CO, depleting atomic 13C in the gas phase. This induces a 13C depletion in CH4 formed on grain surfaces, an effect that is not observed in the CH4 in the solar system, in particular on Titan. This seems to indicate a transformation of matter between the collapse of the molecular clouds, leading to the formation of the protostellar disc, and the formation of the planets. Or it means that the atomic carbon sticking to the grains reacts with the species already on the grains giving very little CH4.