NEW INSTRUMENTAL TOOLS FOR ADVANCED ASTROCHEMICAL APPLICATIONS Amanda L. Steber 1,2, Sabrina Zinn 1,2, Anouk Rijs 3, and Melanie Schnell 1,2 1 The Centre for Ultrafast Imaging (CUI), Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, 2 CoCoMol, Max-Planck-Institut für Struktur und Dynamik der Materie, Hamburg, Germany, 3 Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. 1

Introduction Rotational spectroscopy and Radio astronomy have gone hand in hand over the past 50+ years Molecular discoveries have occurred at a rate of ~4 per year Over 180 molecules discovered Picture Credit: International Business Times, March 12, P. Thaddeus., Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 361, 1681 (2006) Photo Credit: NRAO, 2001

Challenges Astronomical o Large, complex datasets 3-D data available Confusion limited spectra o Slow analysis times Laboratory o Slow data acquisition – but getting faster o Slow analysis times Vibrationally excited states Conformers Orion KL SV dataset 3

Instrumental Techniques CP-FTMW Millimeter Wave Spectroscopy o Absorption – FASSST o Emission – University of Virginia Discharge Laser ablation techniques D.P. Zaleski et al., J. Phys. Chem. A, 119, 2919 (2015) S.M. Fortman et al., Chem. Phys. Lett., 493, 212 (2010) M.C. McCarthy et al., Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser., 129, 129 (2000) G.G. Brown et al., J. Mol. Spectro, 238, 200 (2006) A.L. Steber et al., J. Mol. Spectro., 280, 3 (2012) 4

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) PAH Hypothesis: o Used to explain UIR bands in the mid IR o Postulates PAHs are the most abundant molecules in space after H 2 and CO o An estimated 20% of the total galactic carbon is locked in PAHs Rotational Spectroscopy o Planar molecules with low or non- existent dipole moments 1: Acenaphthene, 2: Acenaphthylene, 3: Fluorene, 4: Azulene, 5: Phenanthrene 5 S. Thorwirth et al., Astrophys. J., 662, 1309 (2007)

Corannulene Dipole moment of 2.07 ± 0.02 D Rotational spectrum first assigned in 2005 Has since been looked for in TMC-1 and the Red Rectangle unsuccessfully 6 F.J. Lovas et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 127, 4345 (2005) P. Thaddeus., Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 361, 1681 (2006) P. Pilleri et al., Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 397, 1053 (2009)

Corannulene 7 4 million averages, heated to 165 °C, backing gas 3 bar Ne

Corannulene + H 2 O Believed that PAHs act as catalysts for chemical reactions Potential assignment for this complex 937 cm -1 C-type Dipole: 5.1 D 0 cm -1 A-type Dipole: 0.2 D B-type Dipole: 0.3 D C-type Dipole: 0.5 D MP2/ (d,p) 8

Conclusions Utilize advances in rotational spectroscopy to speed up process 13 C’s of corannulene can help with potential ISM detection Corannulene with water has potentially been assigned 9

Future Directions Implementation of new instrumentation More complex systems with PAHs o Multiple H 2 O o CO o Other astronomically relevant molecules Laser Desorption of astrochemically and biologically relevant molecules 10

Acknowledgements The Schnell Group CUI – Louise Johnson Fellowship European Research Council Grant 11