First detection of doubly deuterated methyl acetylene (CHD2CCH and CH2DCCD)

We report the first detection in space of the two doubly deuterated isotopologues of methyl acetylene. The species CHD2CCH and CH2DCCD were identified in the dense core L483 through, respectively, nine and eight rotational lines in the 72-116 GHz range using the 30 m telescope of the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimetrique (IRAM). We combined the astronomical frequencies observed here with laboratory frequencies from the literature measured in the 29-47 GHz range to derive more accurate spectroscopic parameters for the two isotopologues. We derive beam-averaged column densities of (2.7 +/- 0.5) x 10(12) cm(-2) for CHD2CCH and (2.2 +/- 0.4) x 10(12) cm(-2) for CH2DCCD, which translate to abundance ratios of CH3CCH/CHD2CCH = 34 +/- 10 and CH3CCH/CH2DCCD = 42 +/- 13. The doubly deuterated isotopologues of methyl acetylene are only a few times less abundant than the singly deuterated ones, specifically around 2.4 times less abundant than CH3CCD. The abundances of the different deuterated isotopologues with respect to CH3CCH are reasonably accounted for by a gas-phase chemical model in which deuteration occurs from the precursor ions C3H6D+ and C3H5D+, when the ortho-to-para ratio of molecular hydrogen is sufficiently low. This points to gas-phase chemical reactions, rather than grain-surface processes, as being responsible for the formation and deuterium fractionation of CH3CCH in L483. The abundance ratios CH2DCCH/CH3CCD = 3.0 +/- 0.9 and CHD2CCH/CH2DCCD = 1.25 +/- 0.37 observed in L483 are consistent with the statistically expected values of three and one, respectively, with the slight overabundance of CHD2CCH compared to CH2DCCD being well explained by the chemical model.

Automated summary

The first detection in space of the doubly deuterated isotopologues of methyl acetylene, CHD2CCH and CH2DCCD, were identified in the core L483. The abundances of these isotopologues with respect to CH3CCH are reasonably explained by a gas-phase chemical model, suggesting gas-phase reactions are responsible for the formation and deuterium fractionation of CH3CCH in L483. The observed abundance ratios in L483 are consistent with statistically expected values, with slight overabundances well explained by the chemical model.