Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 August 2017
Based on analyses by a variety of investigators, it has become understood that gas phase reactions can account for much of the chemistry observed in dense interstellar clouds. However, quantitative calculations of molecular abundances utilizing gas phase reactions are beset with difficulties. These difficulties include uncertainties in needed rate coefficients at the low temperatures of interstellar clouds, uncertainties in the dynamics of physical processes such as cloud collapse and clumping, and uncertainties in our understanding of gasgrain interactions. New work in some of these areas and its impact on modelling is emphasized.