An electron spin resonance investigation of small astronomically relevant radicals

This PhD involved the study of novel radical species of astrochemical interest. The reactive species were isolated in a cold matrix and then probed using electron spin resonance spectroscopy. The species MgN, ZnN, MgCH and Mg⁺-N₂ were successfully identified. Magnetic parameters were derived from the spectra and compared to a series of ab initio calculations. Potential energy surfaces and the properties of different electronic states were also generated for each species. The contribution of the atomic orbitals to the molecular orbitals was estimated from the experimental results and compared between the different species and to contributions derived from theoretical calculations.