Rovibrational analysis of the (nu)2 and 2(nu)2 P–D stretching bands of PH2D

Aminoethanol is a predicted precursor to the amino acid alanine in the interstellar medium and is therefore of great interest for observational studies. However, previous work involving the rotational spectrum of this molecule is limited to centimeter wavelengths and additional laboratory work is necessary to support astronomical heterodyne spectroscopy. This work presents the Doppler-limited rotational spectrum of aminoethanol measured in selected regions between 72 and 305 GHz. Measurements of ground state and (nu)27 transitions have been extended up to J=51 and J=43, respectively. Additional rotational transitions were assigned for the (nu)25, (nu)26, (nu)25+(nu)27, 2(nu)27 and (nu)26+(nu)27 hot bands, resulting in improved rotational and centrifugal distortion constants for these states.