Chapter 6 - Raman Optical Activity

Abstract

Raman optical activity (ROA), which measures a small difference in the intensity of Raman scattering from chiral molecules in right- and left-circularly polarized light, has matured into a powerful analytical technique. The sensitivity of ROA to local chirality, coupled to the high information content and broad applicability of conventional Raman spectroscopy, provides unique and detailed information about molecular structure and conformational dynamics. Although ROA is still a rather specialized technique, both the experimental and computational ROA communities have grown markedly in the last few years. After a brief introduction to the theoretical background, we review many of the developments that have taken place in the last 10–15 years. A number of examples from recent studies are discussed to illustrate how ROA spectroscopy is providing important new insights into biology and chemistry.