Possible Routes for The Synthesis of Aromatic Compounds in Molecular Clouds

We consider the synthesis of aromatic molecules in the interstellar medium under various physical conditions. It is shown that for the “standard” C/O abundance ratio 0.41 the observed abundance of complex aromatic molecules (in particular, cyanonaphthalene) is reproduced only with an unrealistic combination of physical parameters. The C/O ratio of about 1.1, suggested for TMC-1, increases the model abundances of aromatic molecules. For some combinations of physical parameters the solid phase benzene abundance relative to water ice can reach 1 %, which may possibly be detected with observations on JWST.