Study of the Physical and Chemical Properties of Dense Clumps at Different Evolutionary Stages in Several Regions of Massive Star and Stellar Cluster Formation

Massive stars play an important role in the Universe. Unlike low-mass stars, the formation of these objects located at great distances is still unclear. It is expected to be governed by some combination of self-gravity, turbulence, and magnetic fields. Our aim is to study the chemical and physical conditions of dense clumps at different evolutionary stages. We performed observations towards 5 regions of massive star and stellar cluster formation (L1287, S187, S231, DR 21(OH), NGC 7538) with the IRAM-30m telescope. We covered the 2 and 3–4 mm wavelength bands and analyzed the lines of HCN, HNC, HCO⁺, HC₃N, HNCO, OCS, CS, SiO, SO₂, and SO. Using astrodendro algorithm on the 850 µm dust emission data from the SCUBA Legacy catalog, we determined the masses, H₂ column densities, and sizes of the clumps. Furthermore, the kinetic temperatures, molecular abundances, and dynamical state were obtained. The Red Midcourse Space Experiment Source survey (RMS) was used to determine the clump types. A total of 20 clumps were identified. Three clumps were found to be associated with the H II regions, 10 with young stellar objects (YSOs), and 7 with submillimeter emission. The clumps have typical sizes of about 0.2 pc and masses ranging from 1 to 10²\({{M}_{ \odot }}\), kinetic temperatures ranging from 20 to 40 K and line widths of H¹³CO⁺ (1–0) approximately 2 km s^–1. We found no significant correlation in the “line width–size” and the “line width–mass” relationships. However, a strong correlation is observed in “mass–size” relationships. The virial analysis indicated that three clumps are gravitationally bound. Furthermore, we suggested that significant magnetic fields of about 1 mG provide additional support for clump stability. The molecular abundances (relative to H₂) are approximately 10^–10–10^–8.