Ice clouds containing benzene (C₆H₆) have recently been detected in the stratosphere at the south pole of Titan. Their subsequent aging process induced by long-UV solar photons could lead to a photoreactivity that may release some volatile organic compounds in the gas phase. The characterization of this volatile organic fraction coming from the photoprocessing (λ > 230 nm) of such icy C₆H₆ has been characterized by a gas chromatograph coupled to a mass spectrometer. Complex molecular diversity is observed through the identification of C₃ to C₈ photoproducts, which belong to the alkane, alkene, and alkyne families and aromatic derivatives. Thereafter, these hydrocarbons will potentially be transported down to the surface, as condensed ices. Because the energy of solar UV photons decrease with altitude, most of these solid-state hydrocarbons will not be photochemically degraded and may contribute at the end to the organic layer that covers Titan’s surface. As these materials would be probed by DraMS, the mass spectrometer on board the future Dragonfly mission, these analyses could serve as benchmarks for future molecule detection on Titan’s surface.

最近在泰坦南极的平流层中发现了含有苯（C ₆ H ₆）的冰云。由长紫外线太阳光子引起的它们随后的老化过程可能导致光反应性，该反应性可能会在气相中释放出一些挥发性有机化合物。来自这种冰冷的C ₆ H ₆的光处理（λ > 230 nm）的挥发性有机部分的表征已通过与质谱仪耦合的气相色谱仪进行了表征。通过鉴定C ₃至C ₈观察到复杂的分子多样性属于烷烃，烯烃和炔烃家族和芳香族衍生物的光产物。此后，这些碳氢化合物有可能像凝结的冰一样向下运输到地表。因为太阳紫外线光子的能量会随着高度的增加而减少，所以大多数这些固态碳氢化合物都不会被光化学降解，并且最终可能有助于覆盖泰坦表面的有机层。由于这些材料将由未来的蜻蜓任务中的质谱仪DraMS探测到，因此这些分析可作为将来在Titan表面进行分子检测的基准。