Interstellar Chemistry Eric Herbst Departments of Chemistry and Astronomy University of Virginia In the next decade, molecular observations of high spatial resolution obtained from interferometers such as the VLA, extended Plateau de Bure, and ALMA will revolutionize our understanding of the role of chemistry in the study of star and planetary formation. Although the revolution is already beginning, the observation of *truly *complex molecules (e.g. molecules with 10 or more atoms) is lagging behind, with very few new detections let alone any spatial information. Yet the detection of such molecules has an astrobiological importance as well as allowing astrochemists to better constrain the chemistry that synthesizes molecules in regions of star formation. Given the large moments of inertia of complex species, the low frequency (cm-wave) region of the electromagnetic spectrum will assume more importance in their detection. To observe such molecules, large single dishes such as GBT will continue to be quite useful, but interferometric observations in these low-frequency regions will be needed to understand their environments. The SKA array project promises to represent a huge advance in low-frequency interferometric studies, but its promoters tend to emphasize cosmology rather than star formation, and its upper frequency (14 GHz) will be limiting to molecular detections. Expansion of the VLA leading to a much larger collecting area and improved spatial resolution in the cm-wave and large mm-wave range should be a priority in the next decade for astrochemistry. Eric Herbst Commonwealth Professor of Chemistry, Astronomy & Physics Department of Chemistry University of Virginia McCormick Road PO Box 400319 Charlottesville, VA 22904 telephone: 434-243-0535 email: ericherb@gmail.com or eh2ef@virginia.edu url: http://chem.virginia.edu/faculty-research/faculty/eric-herbst/ and (for networks):