Complex Organic Molecules (COMs) have been detected in objects across different stages of stellar evolution. Many of these COMs are expected to form on interstellar ice and transfer later to the... Show moreComplex Organic Molecules (COMs) have been detected in objects across different stages of stellar evolution. Many of these COMs are expected to form on interstellar ice and transfer later to the gas phase. However, due to the challenge of detecting and assigning molecules in interstellar ice observations, the only frozen COM that has been unambiguously identified is methanol. This scenario is about to change, as the exceptional capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) enable the observation of weak signatures of molecules in interstellar ice.This thesis has a main focus on laboratory studies to support interstellar ice observation with the JWST. The results of the spectroscopic characterization of three COMs, acetone, methylamine, and methyl cyanide mixed in interstellar ice analogs are presented in Chapters 3, 4, and 5, respectively. The potential of their absorption features to trace these species in JWST observations is also discussed. Chapter 6 presents a new experimental approach to studying morphological changes in frozen CO, which is important to understand its morphology in space. Chapter 7 presents a computational study that simulates the infrared spectra of small fullerenes (between 44-70 C atoms) and provides insights for future JWST searches for these molecules Show less
This thesis presents detailed laboratory based research on solid-state atom and radical addition reactions aimed to increase our understanding of the chemistry that occurs in interstellar ices. The... Show moreThis thesis presents detailed laboratory based research on solid-state atom and radical addition reactions aimed to increase our understanding of the chemistry that occurs in interstellar ices. The focus here is on the chemistry of nitrogen-bearing species as well as on the formation of molecules of astrobiological importance. An attempt to provide a link between the formation of the simplest nitrogen-bearing molecules and simplest amino acids is made. In addition to amino-acid formation routes, the simplest representatives of two other classes of prebiotic compounds - aldoses (polyhydroxy aldehydes) and polyols - with their corresponding formation routes are presented. Show less
