Facilitating Interstellar Searches for Simple Amino Alcohols with Accurate Rest Frequencies into the Millimeter-wave Regime: Alaninol, Valinol, and Leucinol

Abstract

The detection of larger complex organic molecules, such as molecules consisting of several functional groups or those which show conformational flexibility, in the interstellar medium could lead to insights into the availability of biomolecules in space. We present the rotational spectroscopic study of three amino alcohols: alaninol, valinol, and leucinol. The spectra were recorded over the 2–110 GHz region, which included the utilization of a newly developed instrument operating between 18–26 GHz. We report accurately determined line lists, rotational constants, centrifugal distortion constants, and nuclear quadrupole coupling constants for two conformers of alaninol, four conformers of valinol, and three conformers of leucinol, as well as for several singly substituted heavy-atom isotopologues, which also provide structural insights. Further, a number of spectra of vibrationally excited states were assigned, and the associated motions were revealed with anharmonic frequency calculations. Accurate predictions of rotational transitions into the millimeter-wave regime for all species were made, facilitating searches for these complex molecules by observational facilities such as ALMA. Their detection would establish a new family of interstellar molecules.