Partition function and astronomical observation of interstellar isomers: Is there a link?

Abstract

The unsuccessful astronomical searches for some important astrophysical and astrobiological molecules have been linked to the large partition function of these molecules. This letter reports an extensive investigation of the relationship between partition function and astronomical observation of interstellar isomers using high level quantum chemical calculations. 120 molecules from 30 different isomeric groups have been considered. Partition function and thermodynamic stabilities are determined for each set of isomeric species. From the results, there is no direct correlation between partition function and astronomical observation of the same isomeric species. Though interstellar formations processes are generally controlled by factors like kinetics, thermodynamics, formation and destruction pathways. However, the observation of the isomers seems to correlate well with thermodynamics. For instance, in all the groups considered, the astronomically detected isomers are the thermodynamically most stable molecules in their respective isomeric groups. The implications of these results in accounting for the limited number of known cyclic interstellar molecules, unsuccessful searches for amino acid and the possible molecules for astronomical observations are discussed.