Methanol Reactions May Form Interstellar Hydrocarbons

The radiation-induced conversion of methanol may be an important pathway for the production of hydrocarbons in the interstellar environment, according to a new study (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b00343). University of Southern California chemistry professor George A. Olah, who won the 1994 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and colleagues proposed this reaction pathway, noting that methanol is more reactive than methane. Methane, which exists in giant clouds in the interstellar medium, has long been presumed to be the starting block for the formation of more complex interstellar hydrocarbons. However, over the past two decades, astronomers have discovered interstellar clouds containing methanol as well. Olah’s group, citing results of their experiments and computations involving methanol carried out over the years, points out numerous ways in which methanol chemistry can lead to hydrocarbon production. For example, when methanol is exposed to intense radiation such as that in outer space, hydrocarbons can be formed through oligomerization of an intermediate, ethylene.