15min:
DETECTION OF THE ROTATIONAL SPECTRUM OF SULFOXYLIC ACID (HOSOH).

KYLE N. CRABTREE, OSCAR MARTINEZ JR., LOU BARREAU AND MICHAEL C. MCCARTHY, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA, 02138; SVEN THORWIRTH, I. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, 50937 Köln, Germany.

Sulfoxylic acid (HOSOH) is a chemical intermediate that falls roughly midway in the oxidation states of sulfur, between its highly reduced (H2S) and oxidixed (H2SO4) forms. It is likely formed during atmospheric oxidation of anthropogenic and natural sulfur emissions, and might also be produced by UV processing of circumstellar ices. Despite considerable theoretical work, no gas-phase spectra of sulfoxylic acid or any of its structural isomers have previously been observed. We report the detection of the rotational spectra of the C2 and Cs rotamers of HOSOH using a combination of Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy and microwave-microwave double resonance techniques, guided by new high-level quantum chemical calculations of their structures. The present work enables radioastronomical searches for these species, and also lays the groundwork for further chemical studies of its gas-phase formation and spectroscopic studies of other H2SO2 isomers.