The complex chemistry of young stars

The environments in which young stars form show a rich and varied chemistry. Infact, most of the molecules detected in the interstellar medium to date have first beenfound in these regions. These molecules range all the way from simple di- and triatomicspecies to complex organic molecules, some of them with ten atoms or more,that can be considered the starting points for eventual prebiotic chemistry. Recentlythe Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has opened newpossibilities for studying this complex chemistry. In this talk I will present some of ourrecent ALMA results concerning the chemistry taking place in star forming regions. Iwill discuss the implications of these results on the formation of complex organicmolecules around young protostars and the link between the birth environments ofthese protostars, the conditions in their protoplanetary disks and eventually thechemistry in emerging solar systems.