Basic Features of Vibrational Circular Dichroism (VCD) Spectroscopy: A Unique Role for Analyzing Supramolecular Chirality

This chapter describes the fundamentals of measurements by a Fourier-transformed vibrational circular dichroism (FT-VCD) instrument. The content covers basic theory, and instrumental and practical procedures. Particular attention is paid to the application of VCD to supramolecular systems such as chiral gels, crystals of chiral molecules and helically coordinated metal complexes. In these systems, it is noted that the intensity of a VCD signal is enhanced by one or two orders in comparison to a discrete molecule in a solution A brief review of the theories rationalizing the mechanisms of signal enhancement is presented.