It has been a long standing problem in astrochemistry to explain how molecules can form in a highly dilute environment such
as the interstellar medium. In recent years it has become clear that not only ion/radical-molecule gas-phase reactions, but
also solid state reactions on icy dust grains play an important role in the formation of new species. In order to investigate
the underlying processes, laboratory based experiments are needed to simulate surface reactions induced by photon (UV) processing
or particle (atom, cosmic ray, electron) bombardment of interstellar ice analogs. Here, the latest research performed on SURFace
REaction SImulation DEvice (SURFRESIDE), one of the ultra-high vacuum setups in the Sackler Laboratory for Astrophysics in
Leiden is reviewed. The focus is on hydrogenation, i.e., H-atom addition reactions in interstellar ice analogs for astronomically
relevant temperatures. We discuss how molecules form when CO and O2 containing ices are exposed to thermal hydrogen atoms under fully controlled experimental conditions. Surface formation schemes
for interstellar relevant species, such as solid methanol, water, and carbon dioxide are investigated and chemical links between
molecular species in space are discussed.
Keywords Astrochemistry – Infrared: ISM – ISM: atoms – ISM: molecules – Methods: laboratory
This paper is one of those collected in this issue and presented on the occasion of the symposium “Astrochemistry: molecules
in space and time” (Rome, 4–5 November 2010), sponsored by Fondazione “Guido Donegani” and the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.
Other 11 related papers and an Introduction to the whole series of papers on this topic were published in the previous issue
of Rendiconti Lincei (Vol. 22-2, June 2011).