Role of Molecular Vibrations in Optical Rotation

Abstract

It is shown that in the general case the optical rotatory power of a molecule may be evaluated on the assumption that the nuclei are at rest in the equilibrium configuration of the molecular electronic ground state and that the vibrational motions may be neglected. This rule is not valid when the frequency of the incoming light falls in one of the absorption bands of the molecule and when the frequency becomes comparable with the vibrational absorption frequencies. Especially the latter of these two cases is discussed in detail.