Loison, J.-C. et al. Evidence of phenylium reactivity under interstellar relevant conditions. Nat. Astron. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-026-02973-9 (2026).
Kocheril, G. S., Zagorec-Marks, C. & Lewandowski, H. J. Termination of bottom-up interstellar aromatic ring formation at C6H5+. Nat. Astron. 9, 685–691 (2025).
Fornarini, S. & Speranza, M. Is gaseous phenylium ion unreactive towards acetylene? J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Commun. 1692–1693 (1985).
Scott, G. B. et al. CmHn+ reactions with H and H2: an experimental study. J. Phys. Chem. A 101, 4973–4978 (1997).
Soliman, A.-R. et al. Formation of complex organics in the gas phase by sequential reactions of acetylene with the phenylium ion. J. Phys. Chem. A 116, 8925–8933 (2012).
Eyler, J. R. & Campana, J. E. Gas-phase phenylium and acyclic [C6H5]+ isomers. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. Ion Process. 55, 171–188 (1984).
Giles, K., Adams, N. G. & Smith, D. A study of reactions of CmHn+ ions (n= 4, 5, 6; m= 0–6) with H2 and CO at 300 K and 80 K. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. Ion Process. 89, 303–317 (1989).
Contreras, C. S. & Salama, F. Laboratory investigations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon formation and destruction in the circumstellar outflows of carbon stars. Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 208, 6 (2013).
Knight, J., Freeman, C., McEwan, M., Anicich, V. & Huntress, W. A flow tube study of ion–molecule reactions of acetylene. J. Phys. Chem. 91, 3898–3902 (1987).
Ausloos, P., Lias, S. G., Buckley, T. J. & Rogers, E. E. Concerning the formation and the kinetics of phenylium ions. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. Ion Process. 92, 65–77 (1989).
Ruscic, B. & Bross, D. H. Active Thermochemical Tables (ATcT) ver. 1.124. Argonne National Laboratory https://atct.anl.gov/ (2022).
Bentley, M. R. et al. Direct observation of a fundamental arylium species using photoelectron spectroscopy: singlet–triplet gap in phenylium. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 147, 17068–17076 (2025).
Rossi, C., Alcaraz, C., Thissen, R. & Jacovella, U. Tunable photoionization chemical monitoring (TPI-CM)—a means to probe molecular ion structures and monitor unimolecular processes through bimolecular ion–molecule reactions: past, present, and future. J. Phys. Org. Chem. 36, e4489 (2023).
Peverati, R., Bera, P. P., Lee, T. J. & Head-Gordon, M. Insights into hydrocarbon chain and aromatic ring formation in the interstellar medium; computational study of the isomers of and their formation pathways. Astrophys. J. 830, 128 (2016).
Ascenzi, D. et al. Reactions of phenylium ions C6H5+ with D2. J. Chem. Phys. 119, 8366–8372 (2003).
Hrušák, J., Schröder, D. & Iwata, S. The ground state (1A1) and the lowest triplet state (3B1) of the phenyl cation C6H5+ revisited. J. Chem. Phys. 106, 7541–7549 (1997).