Knowledge Bank

Aminoacetonitrile (NH$\mathrm{<mrow\; data-mjx-texclass="ORD">2</mrow>}$CH$\mathrm{<mrow\; data-mjx-texclass="ORD">2</mrow>}$CN) draws an attention with respect to a synthesis of amino acid in interstellar space, as it is considered to be a direct precursor of the simplest amino acid, glycine. Recently the molecule was detected toward SgrB2(N) &amp;\textit{A}, 482, 179 (2008)}, in which spectral line frequencies are predicted on the basis of the previous millimeter-wave study, 143, 180 (1990)}. We have measured pure rotational spectrum of aminoacetonitrile in the millimeter and the submillimeter-wave region. About 300 spectral lines including both a-type and b-type transitions were recorded up to 661 GHz, and centrifugal distortion constants up to the octic term were precisely determined. We had to reinvestigate most of the b-type transition lines due to wrong assignments in the previous study. The updated frequency catalogue of the aminoacetonitrile are now accurate enough for astronomically search up to 1000 GHz.