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Ethyl Formate

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

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Synonyms

C2H5OCHO; Ethyl methanoate

Definition

Ethyl formate is among the largest organic molecules unambiguously detected by radio astronomers in the interstellar medium. It is also called ethyl methanoate. Ethyl formate is partly responsible for the flavor of raspberries, and it has the characteristic odor of rum.

History

The trans conformer of ethyl formate was detected in the Galactic Center molecular cloud Sagittarius B2(N) by Belloche et al. (2009), who suggest that it may be produced by surface reactions on interstellar dust grains, perhaps involving precursors such as methyl formate and ethanol (for the definition of conformers, see isomer). More recently, the gauche conformer has also been detected, in a line survey of the Orion molecular cloud (Tercero et al. 2013). Ethyl formate is the second formate, after methyl formate, to be detected in the interstellar medium. Its isomer methyl acetate (CH3COOCH3) has also been recently detected in a molecular cloud in the Milky Way.

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References and Further Reading

  • Belloche A, Garrod RT, Müller HSP, Menten KM, Comito C, Schilke P (2009) Increased complexity in interstellar chemistry: detection and chemical modeling of ethyl formate and n-propyl cyanide in Sagittarius B2(N). Astron Astrophys 499:215–232

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  • Tercero B, Kleiner I, Cernicharo J, Nguyen HVL, López A, Muñoz Caro GM (2013) Discovery of methyl acetate and gauche ethyl formate in Orion. Astrophys J 770:L13–L19

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Lederle Graduate Research Tower B 619E, 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA, 01003-9305, USA

    William M. Irvine

Authors
  1. William M. Irvine
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Correspondence to William M. Irvine .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Irvine, W.M. (2014). Ethyl Formate. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_5103-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_5103-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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