Broadband infrared spectroscopy of methanol isotopologues in pure, H2O-rich, and CO-rich ice analogues

TL;DR

This study provides laboratory infrared spectra of methanol and its deuterated isotopologues in astrophysical ice analogues, identifying distinctive spectral features to aid in detecting deuterated methanol in space and understanding deuterium enrichment in star-forming regions.

Contribution

It offers new laboratory spectral data and band assignments for methanol isotopologues in ice analogues, aiding astrophysical observations and models.

Findings

Distinctive IR band patterns identified for each deuterated methanol isotopologue.

Characteristic doublet features at specific wavenumbers serve as reliable tracers.

Spectral signatures remain consistent across different ice mixtures.

Abstract

Deuterium fractionation is highly efficient during the early stages of star formation, particularly in starless and prestellar cores where temperatures are low (<10 K) and molecular freeze-out onto dust grains is significant. Methanol forms early in these environments following CO freeze-out via successive hydrogenation reactions on grain surfaces, while the production of deuterated methanol requires elevated gas-phase D/H ratios generated through dissociative recombination of deuterated H3+. Consequently, large abundances of deuterated methanol are observed toward young stellar objects where prestellar ices have recently sublimated. Here, we present laboratory infrared spectra of methanol and its deuterated isotopologues in astrophysical ice analogues, complemented by anharmonic vibrational calculations used to guide band assignments. Experiments were performed at the CASICE laboratory using a Bruker Vertex 70v spectrometer coupled to a closed-cycle helium cryostat, with isotopologue ices deposited at 10 K under high-vacuum conditions. Infrared transmission spectra were recorded over 6000-30 cm-1 (1.67-333 um) and compared with spectra of pure isotopologue ices. Distinctive mid-infrared band patterns are identified for each deuterated species. In particular, CH2DOH exhibits a characteristic doublet at 1293 and 1326 cm-1 (7.73 and 7.54 um), while CHD2OH shows a similar doublet at 1301 and 1329 cm-1 (7.69 and 7.52 um), both remaining largely invariant across all studied ice mixtures. These robust spectral signatures provide reliable tracers for identifying deuterated methanol in JWST observations and for constraining astrochemical gas-grain models of deuterium enrichment prior to star and planet formation.