THE DETECTION OF INTERSTELLAR ETHANIMINE (CH{sub 3}CHNH) FROM OBSERVATIONS TAKEN DURING THE GBT PRIMOS SURVEY

Journal Article · Fri Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2013 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/765/1/L9· OSTI ID:22130867

Loomis, Ryan A.; Zaleski, Daniel P.; Steber, Amanda L.; Neill, Justin L.; Muckle, Matthew T.; Harris, Brent J.; Pate, Brooks H. ^[1]; Hollis, Jan M. ^[2]; Jewell, Philip R.; Remijan, Anthony J. ^[3]; Lattanzi, Valerio; Martinez, Oscar Jr.; McCarthy, Michael C. ^[4]; Lovas, Frank J. ^[5]; Corby, Joanna F. ^[6]

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1. Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904 (United States)
2. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
3. National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904-2475 (United States)
4. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
5. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899 (United States)
6. Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904 (United States)

We have performed reaction product screening measurements using broadband rotational spectroscopy to identify rotational transition matches between laboratory spectra and the Green Bank Telescope PRIMOS radio astronomy survey spectra in Sagittarius B2 North (Sgr B2(N)). The broadband rotational spectrum of molecules created in an electrical discharge of CH{sub 3}CN and H{sub 2}S contained several frequency matches to unidentified features in the PRIMOS survey that did not have molecular assignments based on standard radio astronomy spectral catalogs. Several of these transitions are assigned to the E- and Z-isomers of ethanimine. Global fits of the rotational spectra of these isomers in the range of 8-130 GHz have been performed for both isomers using previously published mm-wave spectroscopy measurements and the microwave measurements of the current study. Possible interstellar chemistry formation routes for E-ethanimine and Z-ethanimine are discussed. The detection of ethanimine is significant because of its possible role in the formation of alanine-one of the twenty amino acids in the genetic code.

• OSTI ID: 22130867
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 765, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ABUNDANCE
ACETONITRILE
ALANINES
ALLOCATIONS
ASTRONOMY
CATALOGS
DETECTION
ELECTRIC DISCHARGES
HYDROGEN
ISOMERS
MICROWAVE RADIATION
MOLECULES
SPECTRA
SPECTROSCOPY
TELESCOPES