High-resolution molecular spectroscopy has been used to study acetylene line parameters and emission spectra of hydrogen cyanide. All acetylene spectra were recorded in our laboratory at the University of Lethbridge using a 3-channel tuneable diode laser spectrometer. N2-broadened line widths and N2-pressure induced line shifts have been measured for transitions in the v1+v3 band of acetylene at seven temperatures in the range 213–333K to obtain the temperature dependences of broadening and shift coefficients. The Voigt and hard-collision line profile models were used to retrieve the line parameters. The line-broadening and line-shift coefficients as well as their temperature-dependent parameters have been also evaluated theoretically, in the frame work of a semi-classical approach based on an exponential representation of the scattering operator, an intermolecular potential composed of electrostatic quadrupole–quadrupole and pairwise atom–atom interactions as well as on exact trajectories driven by an effective isotropic potential. The experimental results for both N2-broadening and shifting show good agreement with the theoretical results. We have studied the line intensities of the 1νl20←0νl20 band system from the HCN emission spectrum. The infrared emission spectrum of H12C14N was measured at the Justus-Liebig University, Giessen, Germany. The emission spectrum was analyzed with the spectrum analysis software Symath running using Mathematica as a platform. This approach allowed us to retrieve information on band intensity parameters. / viii, 112 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm