Chemistry of Dark Molecular Clouds

[2607.25515] Chemistry of Dark Molecular Clouds Skip to main content Search Submit Donate Log in Astrophysics > Astrophysics of Galaxies arXiv:2607.25515 (astro-ph) [Submitted on 28 Jul 2026] Title: Chemistry of Dark Molecular Clouds Authors: Yuri Aikawa , Izaskun Jimenez-Serra , Paola Caselli View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract: Recent molecular line surveys, particularly toward the starless core TMC-1 CP, have greatly expanded the inventory of interstellar molecules, revealing numerous isomers and even aromatic species. Their diverse formation pathways---from ion-molecule reactions to the possible fragmentation of carbonaceous grains---remain under debate, linking chemistry to the life cycle of the interstellar medium. Simple tracers such as carbon chains and deuterated ions are used to probe the physical conditions and evolutionary state of nearby filaments and cores, as well as in massive infrared dark clouds. Ice chemistry has also entered a new era with JWST: spatial distributions of ices indicate a connection between catastrophic freeze-out, established in the prestellar core L1544, and formation of complex organic molecules. Overall, TMC-1 CP and L1544 are not outliers but representative laboratories of molecular cloud physics and chemistry. Extending these findings across diverse environments, from the Central Molecular Zone to low-metallicity galaxies, is essential for a unified picture of how interstellar chemistry regulates the path from clouds to stars and planets. Comments: To be published in Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics. 49 pages and 10 figures in main text. 28 pages and 4 Tables in Supplemental Material Subjects: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) ; Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP); Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) Cite as: arXiv:2607.25515 [astro-ph.GA] (or arXiv:2607.25515v1 [astro-ph.GA] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2607.25515 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Journal reference: Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics 2026. 64:673-716 Related DOI : https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-astro-051024-031607 Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources Submission history From: Yuri Aikawa [ view email ] [v1] Tue, 28 Jul 2026 09:55:28 UTC (6,198 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View PDF HTML (experimental) TeX Source view license Current browse context: astro-ph.GA < prev | next > new | recent | 2026-07 Change to browse by: astro-ph astro-ph.EP astro-ph.SR References & Citations SciX Google Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer ( What is the Explorer? ) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers ( What is Connected Papers? ) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps ( What is Litmaps? ) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations ( What are Smart Citations? ) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv ( What is alphaXiv? ) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers ( What is CatalyzeX? ) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub ( What is DagsHub? ) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub ( What is GotitPub? ) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face ( What is Huggingface? ) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast ( What is ScienceCast? ) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate ( What is Replicate? ) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces ( What is Spaces? ) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI ( What is TXYZ.AI? ) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower ( What are Influence Flowers? ) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender ( What is CORE? ) IArxiv recommender toggle IArxiv Recommender ( What is IArxiv? ) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs . Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax ( What is MathJax? ) We gratefully acknowledge support from our major funders , member institutions , and all contributors. About · Help · Contact · Subscribe · Copyright · Privacy · Accessibility · Operational Status (opens in new tab)

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