Non-covalent interactions of hydrogen cyanide and acetonitrile with the quinoline radical cation via ionic hydrogen bonding

Non-covalent interactions of HCN and CH3CN with the quinoline radical cation (C9H7N+center dot) through carbon-based ionic hydrogen bonds in the gas phase result in binding energies of 8.1 and 11.5 kcal/mol, respectively. The quinoline cation can be externally solvated with HCN molecules which tend to favor the formation of hydrogen bonding chains rather than multiple direct attachments to the quinoline cation. The solvated structures allow the exposure of the quinoline ion on the surface of cold grains of meteorites and comets to reactive space molecules which could result in the formation of nitrogen-containing complex organic ions in space.