Binding energies of ethanol and ethylamine on interstellar water ices: synergy between theory and experiments.

Experimental and computational chemistry are two disciplines used to conduct research in astrochemistry, providing essential reference data for both astronomical observations and modeling. These approaches not only mutually support each other, but also serve as complementary tools to overcome their respective limitations. Leveraging on such synergy, we characterized the binding energies (BEs) of ethanol (CHCHOH) and ethylamine (CHCHNH), two interstellar complex organic molecules (iCOMs), on crystalline and amorphous water ices through density functional theory (DFT) calculations and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) experiments.