Laboratory studies of some ion-atom reactions related to interstellar molecular synthesis

The rate coefficients and product ions have been determined for reactions involving C(+), CH(+), CH2(+), CH3(+), CH5(+), C2(+), C2H(+), C2H2(+), D(+), OH(+), and H2O(+) ions with N and O atoms and NO molecules at 300 K. The values obtained for the rate coefficients are generally substantial fractions of the collision-limiting values, indicating that ion-atom reactions can be important steps in the synthesis of some of the molecules observed in interstellar clouds, in accordance with previous models.