A FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION IN THE FIELD OF ASTROCHEMISTRY IS WHETHER THE MOLECULES ESSENTIAL TO LIFE ORIGINATED IN THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM (ISM) AND IF SO HOW THEY WERE FORMED. NITROGEN-CONTAINING HYDROCARBONS ARE OF PARTICULAR INTEREST BECAUSE OF THEIR ROLE IN BIOLOGY. THE DISCOVERIES OF THESE MOLECULES ON METEORITES PROVIDE EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT AN INTERSTELLAR ORIGIN. YET WHILE MANY N-CONTAINING SPECIES HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED IN THE ISM N-HETEROCYCLES HAVE NOT. THIS PROPOSAL SEEKS TO USE STATE-OF-THE-ART SPECTROSCOPIC TECHNIQUES TO DETERMINE THE KINETIC RATE CONSTANTS AND BRANCHING FRACTIONS OF LOW TEMPERATURE GAS PHASE REACTIONS YIELDING THE N-HETEROCYCLES PYRIDINE AND 1 4-DIHYDROQUINOLINE. AN AB INITIO NANOREACTOR WILL BE USED AS A COMPLEMENT TO THE EXPERIMENTAL WORK TO SEARCH FOR POTENTIAL FORMATION MECHANISMS OF PYRROLE. RESULTS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO CHEMICAL MODELS THAT ARE USED TO INTERPRET ASTRONOMICAL DATA. INVESTIGATING THE CHEMISTRY OF THE ISM DIRECTLY SUPPORTS THE ASTROPHYSICS RESEARCH PROGRAM'S PHYSICS OF THE COSMOS THEME "TO EXPLORE THE BEHAVIOR AND INTERACTIONS OF THE PARTICLES AND FUNDAMENTAL FORCES OF NATURE ESPECIALLY THEIR BEHAVIOR UNDER THE EXTREME CONDITIONS FOUND IN ASTROPHYSICAL SITUATIONS." THIS WORK IS ALSO RELEVANT TO THE BROAD ASTROPHYSICAL QUESTION "ARE WE ALONE?" UNDERSTANDING THE EVOLUTION OF PREBIOTIC MOLECULES IN THE UNIVERSE IS ESSENTIAL TO THE STUDY OF THE ORIGIN OF LIFE ON EARTH AND THE SEARCH FOR LIFE ON OTHER HOSPITABLE PLANETS