Millimetre and sub-millimetre spectroscopy of doubly deuterated acetaldehyde (CHD2CHO) and first detection towards IRAS 16293-2422

TL;DR

This study reports the first detection of doubly deuterated acetaldehyde (CHD2CHO) in a star-forming region, providing a detailed spectroscopic catalogue and insights into deuterium fractionation in early star formation.

Contribution

The paper presents laboratory measurements and a spectroscopic catalogue for CHD2CHO, enabling its first astrophysical detection and analysis in a protostellar environment.

Findings

First detection of CHD2CHO towards IRAS 16293-2422.

Derived D2/D ratio of ~20%, consistent with other molecules.

Spectroscopic catalogue with 853 transition frequencies.

Abstract

The abundances of deuterated molecules with respect to their main isotopologue counterparts have been determined to be orders of magnitude higher than expected from the cosmic abundance of deuterium relative to hydrogen. The increasing number of singly and multi-deuterated species detections helps us to constrain the interplay between gas-phase and solid-state chemistry and to understand better deuterium fractionation in the early stages of star formation. Acetaldehyde is one of the most abundant complex organic molecules (COMs) in star-forming regions and its singly deuterated isotopologues have already been observed towards protostars. A spectroscopic catalogue for astrophysical purposes is built for doubly deuterated acetaldehyde CHD2CHO from measurements in the laboratory. Submillimetre wave transitions were measured for the non-rigid doubly deuterated acetaldehyde CHD2CHO displaying hindered internal rotation of its asymmetrical CHD2 methyl group. A line position analysis is carried out allowing us to reproduce 853 transition frequencies with a weighted root mean square standard deviation of 1.7, varying 40 spectroscopic constants. A spectroscopic catalogue for astrophysical purposes is built from the analysis results. Using this catalogue we were able to detect for the first time CHD2CHO towards the low-mass protostellar system IRAS 16293-2422 utilizing data from the ALMA Protostellar Interferometric Line Survey. The first detection of the CHD2CHO species allows for the derivation of its column density with a value of 1.3x10^15 cm^-2 and an uncertainty of 10-20%. The resulting D2/D ratio of ~20% is found to be coincident with D2/D ratios derived for other complex organic molecules towards IRAS~16293-2422, pointing at a common formation environment with enhanced deuterium fractionation.