Interstellar molecules: from solid-state formation to gas-phase detection

Although one would expect molecules and atoms to be frozen out on dust grain surfaces at the low temperatures present in the Interstellar Medium (ISM), many species have actually been detected in the gas phase by astronomical observations. In this paper we study one way to release species into the gas phase, namely via the process of chemical desorption: evaporation caused by the excess energy of an exothermic reaction. Specific emphasis was put on the quantification of the process, in order for it to be implementable in astrochemical models that predict the molecular abundances in space.