Detection of interstellar cyanamide (NH$_{2}$CN) towards the hot molecular core G10.47+0.03

TL;DR

This study reports the detection and quantification of cyanamide (NH₂CN) in the hot molecular core G10.47+0.03 using ALMA, providing insights into its abundance, formation pathways, and relevance to prebiotic chemistry.

Contribution

First detection of NH₂CN emission lines towards G10.47+0.03 with detailed abundance analysis and comparison to theoretical models and other interstellar sources.

Findings

Column density of NH₂CN: (6.60±0.1)×10¹⁵ cm⁻²

Fractional abundance of NH₂CN: 5.076×10⁻⁸

NH₂CN/NH₂CHO ratio similar to other star-forming regions

Abstract

In the interstellar medium, the amide-type molecules play an important role in the formation of the prebiotic molecules in the hot molecular cores or high-mass star formation regions. The complex amide-related molecule cyanamide (NH$_{2}$CN) is known as one of the rare interstellar molecule which has played a major role in the formation of urea (NH$_{2}$CONH$_{2}$). In this article, we presented the detection of the emission lines of cyanamide (NH$_{2}$CN) towards the hot molecular core G10.47+0.03 between the frequency range 158.49$-$160.11 GHz using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) interferometric radio telescope. The estimated column density of the emission lines of NH$_{2}$CN using the rotational diagram model was $N$(NH$_{2}$CN) = (6.60$\pm$0.1)$\times$10$^{15}$ cm$^{-2}$ with rotational temperature ($T_{rot}$) = 201.2$\pm$3.3 K. The fractional abundance of NH$_{2}$CN with respect to H$_{2}$ towards G10.47+0.03 was $f$(NH$_{2}$CN) = 5.076$\times$10$^{-8}$. Additionally, we estimated the NH$_{2}$CN/NH$_{2}$CHO abundance ratio towards the G10.47+0.03 was 0.170, which was nearly similar with NH$_{2}$CN/NH$_{2}$CHO abundance ratio towards IRAS 16293$-$2422 B and Sgr B2 (M). We found that the observed abundance of NH$_{2}$CN with respect to H$_{2}$ towards G10.47+0.03 fairly agrees with the theoretical value predicted by Garrod (2013). We also discussed the possible formation and destruction pathways of NH$_{2}$CN.