A theoretical study of the conversion of gas phase methanediol to formaldehyde

Methanediol, or methylene glycol, is a product of the liquid phase reaction of water and formaldehyde and is a predicted interstellar grain surface species. Detection of this molecule in a hot core environment would advance the understanding of complex organic chemistry in the interstellar medium, but its laboratory spectroscopic characterization is a prerequisite for such observational searches. This theoretical study investigates the unimolecular decomposition of methanediol, specifically the thermodynamic and kinetic stability of the molecule under typical laboratory and interstellar conditions. Methanediol was found to be thermodynamically stable at temperatures of ,100 K, which is the characteristic temperature range for interstellar grain mantles. The infinite-pressure RRKM unimolecular decomposition rate was found to be ,10 s at 300 K, indicating gas phase kinetic stability for typical laboratory and hot core temperatures. Therefore, both laboratory studies of and observational searches for this molecule should be feasible. © 2003 American Institute of Physics. @DOI: 10.1063/1.1596392#