The importance of OH radical–neutral low temperature tunnelling reactions in interstellar clouds using a new model

Recent laboratory experiments using a pulsed Laval nozzle apparatus have shown that reactions between a neutral molecule and the radical OH can occur efficiently at low temperatures despite activation energy barriers if there is a hydrogen-bonded complex in the entrance channel which allows the system to tunnel efficiently under the barrier. Since OH is a major radical in the interstellar medium, this class of reactions may well be important in the chemistry that occurs in the gas phase of interstellar clouds. Using a new gas-grain chemical network with both gas-phase reactions and reactions on the surfaces of dust particles, we studied the role of OH–neutral reactions in dense interstellar clouds at 10, 50, and 100 K. We determined that at least one of these reactions can be significant, especially at the lowest temperatures studied, where the rate constants are large. It was found in particular that the reaction between CH3OH and OH provides an effective and unambiguous gas-phase route to the production of the gaseous methoxy radical (CH3O), which has been recently detected in cold, dense interstsellar clouds. The role of other reactions in this class is explored.