Abstract Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been produced on HNO3 roughened silver and copper foils using near infrared excited Fourier transform (FT) Raman spectroscopy. The FT-SERS spectra obtained from 4-aminophenyl disulfide reveal the S-S bond fission of the molecule upon adsorption both on Ag and Cu surfaces. The spectra of acryl amide on Ag indicate that a relatively complete polymerization has occurred on Ag. The SERS technique on such metal substrates, in combination with FT instrumentation, shows fair simplicity, high sensitivity and great promise as a general analytical tool for surface reaction studies.