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A Photoionization Reflectron Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometric Study on the Detection of Ethynamine (HCCNH2) and 2H-Azirine (c-H2CCHN) |
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| Authors: | Dr. Andrew M. Turner Dr. Sankhabrata Chandra Prof. Ryan C. Fortenberry Prof. Dr. Ralf I. Kaiser |
| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Chemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2545 McCarthy Mall, Honolulu, HI 96822 USA W. M. Keck Laboratory in Astrochemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2545 McCarthy Mall, Honolulu, HI 96822 USA;2. Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Mississippi, Mississippi, 38677-1848 USA;3. Department of Chemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2545 McCarthy Mall, Honolulu, HI 96822 USA |
| Abstract: | Ices of acetylene (C2H2) and ammonia (NH3) were irradiated with energetic electrons to simulate interstellar ices processed by galactic cosmic rays in order to investigate the formation of C2H3N isomers. Supported by quantum chemical calculations, experiments detected product molecules as they sublime from the ices using photoionization reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PI-ReTOF-MS). Isotopically-labeled ices confirmed the C2H3N assignments while photon energies of 8.81 eV, 9.80 eV, and 10.49 eV were utilized to discriminate isomers based on their known ionization energies. Results indicate the formation of ethynamine (HCCNH2) and 2H-azirine (c-H2CCHN) in the irradiated C2H2:NH3 ices, and the energetics of their formation mechanisms are discussed. These findings suggest that these two isomers can form in interstellar ices and, upon sublimation during the hot core phase, could be detected using radio astronomy. |
| Keywords: | complex organic molecules ionization potentials IR spectroscopy mass spectrometry nonequilibrium processes |