Dissociative recombination of CH2NH2+: a crucial link with interstellar methanimine and Titan ammonia

International audienceCross sections for dissociative recombination (DR) and vibrational excitation of the CH2NH + 2 ion in collisions with electrons are determined theoretically. The corresponding thermally averaged rate coefficients are computed and fitted to analytical formulas. The obtained DR rate coefficient is significantly smaller than the values recently employed in the photochemical models of the upper atmosphere of Titan, which has an important impact on the models that aim to reproduce the Titan ammonia abundance. On the other hand, the present results support the astrophysical models reproducing the abundance of the methanimine (CH2NH) detected in massive star formation regions. In these models, the CH2NH + 2 DR is a major route of formation of this molecule with a high prebiotic potential