Cyanoacetylene gas-phase chemistry of relevance in interstellar objects, comets and other bodies of the Solar System: a combined experimental and theoretical investigation

To characterize the chemistry of cyanoacetylene in various extraterrestrial environments, in our laboratory, we have undertaken a systematic investigation of the reactions involving cyanoacetylene and atomic or diatomic radicals which are relatively abundant in space. The investigated reactions include CN + HC₃N, O + HC₃N and N + HC₃N. We have used a sophisticated experimental technique to investigate these reactive systems under single collision conditions in order to be able to establish the nature of the primary products and their branching ratio without ambiguity.