Molecular Gas in 21 and 30 μm Sources: The 2 mm and 1.3 mm Spectra of IRAS 21318+5631 and 22272+5435

The carriers of the 21 and 30 μm emission features in infrared spectra of circumstellar envelopes are a long-standing enigma. In this paper, we present the results of molecular line observations toward two circumstellar envelopes exhibiting the 21 and/or 30 μm features, IRAS 21318+5631 and 22272+5435. We investigate whether they have unusual gas-phase chemistry and search for a possible gas-phase precursor of the carriers of the two dust features. The spectra cover several discrete frequency ranges of 130–164 GHz and 216.5–273 GHz, resulting in a detection of 13 molecular species and isotopologues in each object. A rotation-diagram analysis is carried out to determine the molecular abundances, column densities, and excitation temperatures. We did not discover any molecular species that would be unexpected in a normal C-rich star. Nevertheless, there exists subtle differences between their molecular abundances. IRAS 22272+5435 shows stronger SiC₂ and HC₃N lines and weaker SiS lines than IRAS 21318+5631, suggesting that this 21 μm source is more carbon-rich and has experienced more efficient dust formation. We discuss the potential implications of the results for the carriers of the 21 μm and 30 μm features.