Detection of unidentified molecular pure rotational lines in C-rich PNe I. The fullerene-containing PN IC 418
Molecular emission is observed in a wide variety of astrophysical environments, yet a substantial fraction of spectral features detected at mm wavelengths remains unidentified. Identifying these features is essential for constraining the inventory of interstellar and circumstellar molecules and for understanding the chemical pathways operating in evolved stars. In this study, we investigate a set of weak unidentified molecular features detected in the C-rich PN IC 418. We aim to constrain the nature of their molecular carriers and assess their possible connection to fullerene-related chemistry. High-sensitivity observations at 2, 3, and 7 mm were carried out using the RT40m and IRAM 30m radio telescopes. The spectral features found in these data sets were compared with public molecular spectroscopic databases. Spectral-pattern searches and line fits were performed under linear, symmetric, and asymmetric rotor approximations to estimate rotational constants of potential molecular carriers. We report the detection of 20 weak (SNR~2-13) unidentified features (UFs), none of which can be attributed to mm radio recombination lines, instrumental artifacts, or known molecular species. The observed features are inconsistent with the regular line spacing expected from linear molecules or symmetric rotors, although a recurrent doublet-like pattern is identified. The estimated rotational constants (B~2 500-3 660 MHz) suggest carriers with 4-13 atoms and are incompatible with those expected from C60 derivatives (B~100 MHz). Non-planar carbonaceous molecules produced during the destruction/processing of hydrogenated amorphous carbon (HAC) grains are suggested as promising candidates. The catalog of UFs presented here is made publicly available to facilitate future comparisons with laboratory measurements and theoretical calculations aimed at identifying their molecular carriers.