Astronomy & Space Sciences

The project proposes to study the interaction and plausible gas-phase proton transfer reaction between acetonitrile and formic acid using high-resolution spectroscopy in superfluid helium nanodroplets and theoretical methods. It is also proposed to study aggregation of acetonitrile and formic acid molecules in various proportions such as (acetonitrile)1***(formic acid)n (n = 1 to 2), (acetonitrile)m***( formic acid)1 (m = 1 to 2) and (acetonitrile)m***( formic acid)n (m,n=1 to 2). These molecular clusters will be studied experimentally, in superfluid helium nanodroplets, as well as theoretically, using ab initio electronic structure methods.