The ion-molecule chemistry of acrylonitrile: astrochemical implications.

The results of laboratory measurements of ion-molecule reactions of ions derived from acrylonitrile, CH 2 CHCN, namely C 3 H n N + (n = 1-4), are presented, as well as of measurements involving ions of relevance to the interstellar cloud chemistry of CH 2 CHCN. Sources and sinks for CH 2 CHCN proposed in recent models have been re-examined in the light of these measurements. Most ions relevant to cloud chemistry undergo collision-rate reactions with CH 2 CHCN but the C 3 H n N + ions are relatively unreactive with most important neutral constituents of clouds including H 2 , CO and N 2