Interstellar Molecules of Prebiotic Interest

Abstract

AbstractThe field of interstellar molecules is reviewed with special consideration of molecules which are of potential biological interest. At present more than 110 interstellar molecules have been identified in interstellar clouds and circumstellar envelopes. The more complex molecules are found in the dense cores which are often the sites of active star formation. These locations represent prime targets for the search of larger molecules such as glycine and possibly other amino acids. However, in the list of detected interstellar molecules still many simple hydrides are missing, e.g. SH, PH, PH2, etc., which constitute the building blocks for larger molecules and biomolecules. With the technological opening of the terahertz region to both laboratory and interstellar spectroscopy, great scientific advances are to expected such as the direct detection of the low energy bending vibrations of larger (linear) molecules or the ring-puckering motion of larger ring molecules like the polycyclic (multiring) aromatic hydrocarbons, which might shed new light on the assignment of the «unidentified infrared» features or even on the diffuse visible interstellar bands (DIBs).