15min:

M. WINNEWISSER, R. A. H. BUTLER AND F. C. DE LUCIA, Department of Physics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210; K. V. L. N. SASTRY, Department of Physics, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5A3, Canada.

If water ( H₂O ) and cyanogen ( NCCN ) are made to react in the presence of a catalyst, the product is cyanoformamide ( NCCONH₂ ). Using this procedure Christiansen in the GIESSEN Laboratory has synthesized this molecule and has measured for the first time the microwave spectrum between 18 and 40 GHz with a Hewlett-Packard spectrometer. Employing a more convenient synthesis for NCCONH₂ , we were able to extend the measurements into the millimeter- and submillimeter region using the fast-scan spectrometer (FASSST). The chemical synthesis, the measurements, the laboratory data and their analysis will be discussed. They should provide the information necessary to search for this species in space.