Laboratory detection of the elusive HSCO+ isomer

The rotational spectrum of protonated carbonyl sulfide, HSCO(+), has now been detected in the centimeter-wave band in a molecular beam by Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. Rotational and centrifugal distortion constants have been determined from transitions in the K(a)=0 ladder of the normal isotopic species, and DSCO(+) and H(34)SCO(+). HSCO(+) is systematically more abundant by a factor of three than HOCS(+), the isomer obtained by attaching the H(+) to the other end of the molecule, which ab initio calculations long predicted to be higher in energy by 4-5 kcalmol. Because HSCO(+) is comparable in polarity to HOCS(+) and is apparently more stable and because OCS is widely distributed in astronomical sources, HSCO(+) is a good candidate for detection with radio telescopes.