| Interest in interstellar space has led to research of the chemistry of the interstellar medium (ISM). Ion-neutral reactions are an important class of reactions in the ISM. Reactions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) cations with the most abundant interstellar species are investigated. PAH cations react rapidly with H and O atoms, while the reactivity with N atoms decreases with increasing cation size. H2 is not reactive with any parent molecular PAH cation. Ion-neutral reaction pathways to form observed neutral species are also studied. Other researchers have postulated mechanisms for many of the observed interstellar species; these involve cationic precursors or interstellar grains. New formation mechanisms are reported in this thesis via anionic reaction pathways for glycine and cyanoacetylene. Reactions of C+ with NH3, CH4, H2O, C 2H2, and O2 are studied to improve interstellar modeling efforts. Recommendations of rate constants and branching ratios are made to produce improved modeling databases. |
