Zoom link available upon request- email sekhrn@missouri.edu

Abstract:

A new instrument is described that employs buffer gas cooling with mm-wave rotational
spectroscopy to probe molecules desorbed from interstellar ice analogues. The unique
combination of these tools has shown, for the first time, direct measurement of products formed
and desorbing from astrochemical ice analogues with both isomer and conformer specificity, and
determined their relative abundances under well-defined, astrochemically-relevant conditions.
Details of the technique, apparatus, and first results will be described in application to the
temperature-programmed desorption of n- and i-propyl cyanide with rotational spectroscopic
detection. This approach represents a new window into the emergence of chemical complexity in
star forming regions.