Scientists Create ‘Super Alcohol’ in Space-Like Lab

Researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa have successfully created a highly unstable alcohol molecule once thought impossible to observe, using conditions that mimic outer space.

The compound, called methanetetrol, has now been confirmed for the first time after more than a century of scientific speculation. The breakthrough suggests that this so-called super alcohol can form in the extreme environments of deep space, challenging long-held assumptions in both chemistry and astronomy.

The team produced methanetetrol by replicating the harsh conditions of interstellar clouds—environments filled with ice, radiation, and near-vacuum pressure.

The molecule stands out because it carries four hydroxyl (OH) groups attached to a single carbon atom, a structure considered too unstable to naturally exist on Earth.

Laboratory setup mimics cosmic extremes

To generate the compound, researchers used ultra-cold temperatures, high-energy radiation, and an almost perfect vacuum—an experimental setup designed to simulate the chemical playground of space.

These techniques made it possible to observe the molecule directly and confirm its structure. The work not only validates theoretical models dating back over 100 years but also shows that chemical reactions in space are far more diverse than previously believed.

The findings, published in Nature Communications, reveal how reactions involving common molecules such as water and carbon dioxide can lead to the formation of complex organic compounds in space.

Scientists used powerful vacuum ultraviolet light to detect methanetetrol, observing its formation as high-energy particles triggered a chain of reactions—similar to those caused by cosmic rays in deep space.

New pathways for life-building chemistry

Lead researcher Ralf I. Kaiser, a chemistry professor at the University of Hawaiʻi, said that the study reshapes how scientists view the chemical activity occurring in the coldest regions of the cosmos.

By forming this molecule under realistic cosmic conditions, researchers have opened a new window into how life’s chemical building blocks might assemble in space, Kaiser said. He added that the project involved international collaboration, including scientists from Mississippi, Samara University in Russia, and institutions in Shanghai.

Methanetetrol cannot survive on Earth due to its instability under everyday atmospheric conditions. However, its formation in space-like environments suggests that such molecules could exist—and possibly thrive—in regions where stars and planets are born.

The research highlights a surprising chemical route by which complex molecules can evolve in the icy dust clouds of the galaxy. It also offers new clues about how the raw materials for life might emerge in places previously considered too extreme to support such processes.