Rotational spectrum of methoxyamine up to 480 GHz: a laboratory study and astronomical search^⋆

¹ Grupo de Espectroscopia Molecular (GEM), Edificio Quifima, Área de Química-Física, Laboratorios de Espectroscopia y Bioespectroscopia, Parque Científico UVa, Unidad Asociada CSIC, Universidad de Valladolid, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
e-mail: lucie.kolesnikova@uva.es
² Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, CSIC, C/ Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz 3, 28049 Cantoblanco, Spain
³ Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes, École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Rennes, CNRS, UMR 6226, 11 Allée de Beaulieu, CS 50837, 35708 Rennes Cedex 7, France

Received: 7 March 2017
Accepted: 26 September 2017

Abstract

Aims. Methoxyamine is a potential interstellar amine that has been predicted by gas-grain chemical models for the formation of complex molecules. The aim of this work is to provide direct experimental frequencies of its ground-vibrational state in the millimeter- and submillimeter-wave regions to achieve its detection in the interstellar medium.

Methods. Methoxyamine was chemically liberated from its hydrochloride salt, and its rotational spectrum was recorded at room temperature from 75 to 480 GHz using the millimeter-wave spectrometer in Valladolid. Many observed transitions revealed A−E splitting caused by the internal rotation of the methyl group, which had to be treated with specific internal rotation codes.

Results. Over 400 lines were newly assigned for the most stable conformer of methoxyamine, and a precise set of spectroscopic constants was obtained. Spectral features of methoxyamine were then searched for in the Orion KL, Sgr B2, B1-b, and TMC-1 molecular clouds. Upper limits to the column density of methoxyamine were derived.