  Elias 2-27 is a young star that hosts an extended, bright and inclined disk
of dust and gas. The inclination and extreme flaring of the disk make Elias
2-27 an ideal target to study the vertical distribution of molecules,
particularly CN. We directly trace the emission of CN in Elias 2-27 and compare
it to previously published CO isotopologue data. CN $N = 3-2$ emission is
analyzed in two different transitions $J = 7/2 - 5/2$ and $J = 5/2 - 3/2$, for
which we detect two hyperfine group transitions. The vertical location of CN
emission is traced directly from the channel maps, following geometrical
methods that have been previously used to analyze the CO emission of Elias
2-27. Analytical models are used to parametrize the vertical profile of each
molecule and study the extent of each tracer, additionally we compute radial
profiles of column density and optical depth. We show that the vertical
location of CN and CO isotopologues in Elias 2-27 is layered and consistent
with predictions from thermochemical models. A north/south asymmetry in the
radial extent of CN is detected and we find that the CN emission is mostly
optically thin and constrained vertically to a thin slab at $z/r \sim$0.5. A
column density of 10$^{14}$\,cm$^{-2}$ is measured in the inner disk which for
the north side decreases to 10$^{12}$\,cm$^{-2}$ and for the south side to
10$^{13}$\,cm$^{-2}$ in the outer regions. In Elias 2-27, CN traces a
vertically elevated region above the midplane, very similar to that traced by
$^{12}$CO. The inferred CN properties are consistent with thermo-chemical disk
models, in which CN formation is initiated by the reaction of N with UV-pumped
H$_2$. The observed north/south asymmetry may be caused by either ongoing
infall or by a warped inner disk. This study highlights the importance of
tracing the vertical location of various molecules to constrain the disk
physical conditions.
