The ALMA-QUARKS survey: Extensive detection of acetamide in multiple high-mass star-forming regions

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Duan, Chunguo, Xu, Xuefang, Gou, Qian, Liu, Tie, Pagani, Laurent, Xu, Fengwei, Wang, Ke, Liu, Xunchuan, Kang, Jun, He, Mingwei, Jiao, Jiaxiang
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Publié: 2025
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author Duan, Chunguo
Xu, Xuefang
Gou, Qian
Liu, Tie
Pagani, Laurent
Xu, Fengwei
Wang, Ke
Liu, Xunchuan
Kang, Jun
He, Mingwei
Jiao, Jiaxiang
author_facet Duan, Chunguo
Xu, Xuefang
Gou, Qian
Liu, Tie
Pagani, Laurent
Xu, Fengwei
Wang, Ke
Liu, Xunchuan
Kang, Jun
He, Mingwei
Jiao, Jiaxiang
contents Acetamide (CH$_{3}$CONH$_{2}$), a key interstellar amide and a methyl derivative of formamide (NH$_{2}$CHO), has been sparsely detected, limiting insights into its prebiotic relevance. We present the first systematic survey for acetamide toward 52 hot molecular cores using ALMA Band 6 data. Acetamide has been detected in 10 cores, markedly expanding the inventory of known emitters. The derived column densities of acetamide range from $(2.5\pm0.9)\times10^{14}$ to $(1.5\pm0.6)\times10^{16}$ cm$^{-2}$, compared to formamide's $(1.1\pm0.1)\times10^{15}$ to $(6.9\pm0.4)\times10^{16}$ cm$^{-2}$. The nearly constant abundance ratios (~3-9) and strong abundance correlation between the two amides across sources suggest a chemically linked formation pathway, likely on grain surfaces. The presence of peptide-like molecules in these regions implies that complex organic species can survive star formation processes, offering a potential pathway toward prebiotic chemistry. These findings constrain the dominant grain surface formation routes of acetamide, confirm its broader prevalence in highmass star-forming regions, and underscore the importance of targeted amide surveys in tracing the chemical evolution toward prebiotic complexity.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_01904
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The ALMA-QUARKS survey: Extensive detection of acetamide in multiple high-mass star-forming regions
Duan, Chunguo
Xu, Xuefang
Gou, Qian
Liu, Tie
Pagani, Laurent
Xu, Fengwei
Wang, Ke
Liu, Xunchuan
Kang, Jun
He, Mingwei
Jiao, Jiaxiang
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Acetamide (CH$_{3}$CONH$_{2}$), a key interstellar amide and a methyl derivative of formamide (NH$_{2}$CHO), has been sparsely detected, limiting insights into its prebiotic relevance. We present the first systematic survey for acetamide toward 52 hot molecular cores using ALMA Band 6 data. Acetamide has been detected in 10 cores, markedly expanding the inventory of known emitters. The derived column densities of acetamide range from $(2.5\pm0.9)\times10^{14}$ to $(1.5\pm0.6)\times10^{16}$ cm$^{-2}$, compared to formamide's $(1.1\pm0.1)\times10^{15}$ to $(6.9\pm0.4)\times10^{16}$ cm$^{-2}$. The nearly constant abundance ratios (~3-9) and strong abundance correlation between the two amides across sources suggest a chemically linked formation pathway, likely on grain surfaces. The presence of peptide-like molecules in these regions implies that complex organic species can survive star formation processes, offering a potential pathway toward prebiotic chemistry. These findings constrain the dominant grain surface formation routes of acetamide, confirm its broader prevalence in highmass star-forming regions, and underscore the importance of targeted amide surveys in tracing the chemical evolution toward prebiotic complexity.
title The ALMA-QUARKS survey: Extensive detection of acetamide in multiple high-mass star-forming regions
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.01904