February 2025
Phosphorus Monoxide Cation

The simple diatomic cation PO+ was detected by Rivilla and co-workers, as reported in 2022. It was discovered in the G+0.293–0.027 molecular cloud in the Central Molecular Zone of the galaxy with observations using the Yebes 40m, IRAM 30m, and APEX 12m telescopes.

PO+ is the cation of phosphorus monoxide, which was first detected in 2007. The nitrogen analog, NO+, was tentatively detected in 2014. The work of Rivilla and co-workers also detected this lighter cation, its second detection.

PO+ could be formed via direct ionization of PO or through exoergic ion-molecule reactions such as P+ + OH → PO+ + H, in which POH+ is the intermediate.

Researcher Links
VM Rilvilla
J Garcia De La Concepción
I Jiménez-Serra
J Martín-Pintado
L Colzi
B Tercero
A Megías
Á López-Gallifa
A Martínez-Henares
S Massalkhi
S Martín
S Zeng
P Vincent
F Rico-Villas
MA Requena-Torres
G Cosentino

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