Our Sun and planetary system were born about 4.5 billion years ago. How did this happen,
and what is the nature of our heritage from these early times? This review tries to address …

Since we intend to review experimental and theoretical studies of physicochemical
processes occurring on cosmic dust grains in very cold regions in space, we start with a brief …

Molecular absorption and emission bands dominate the visible, infrared, and submillimeter
spectra of most objects with associated gas. These observations reveal a surprisingly rich …

Context. Deuteration is a powerful tracer of the history of the cold prestellar phase in star-
forming regions. Apart from methanol, little is known about deuterium fractionation of …

The Solar System formed about 4.6 billion years ago from a condensation of matter inside a
molecular cloud. Trying to reconstruct what happened is the goal of this chapter. For that, we …

Context. The chemical inventory of planets is determined by the physical and chemical
processes that govern the early phases of star formation. Nitrogen-bearing species are of …

1.1. Interstellar Clouds and Interstellar Chemistry A space between stars is not completely a
vacuum, but is filled up with interstellar gas, whose average number density of H nuclei in all …

We investigate the molecular evolution and D/H abundance ratios that develop as star
formation proceeds from a dense molecular cloud core to a protostellar core, by solving a …

Focusing on the organic inventory of regions of star and planet formation in the interstellar
medium of galaxies, this comprehensive overview of the molecular universe is an invaluable …

Context. Recent observations suggest that planet formation starts early, in protostellar disks
of≤ 10 5 yr, which are characterized by strong interactions with the environment, such as …