THE ROLE OF H-3+ IONS IN THE DEGRADATION OF INTERSTELLAR-MOLECULES( AND H)

The results of recent laboratory studies of the reactions of H+ and H- 3+ with a number of molecular gases are interpreted from the viewpoint of interstellar chemistry. Many of the reactions of these ions result in the ionization and fragmentation of neutral reactant gases. Pseudo -time-dependent calculations of the chemistry in dense molecular cloud s indicate that molecular abundances are reduced by the inclusion of s uch reactions, but generally by less than a factor of 5.