FAR-INFRARED SPECTRA OF LANGMUIR-BLODGETT FILMS OF CHLOROPHYLL a,CHLOROPHYLL b,PHEOPHYTIN a and THEIR ADDUCTS WITH WATER and DIOXANE*

Fourier transform infrared spectra in the low frequency region (500–150cm^?1) of Langmuir-Blodgett films of chlorophyll a (Chi a), chlorophyll b (Chi b) and pheophytin a have been studied. Correlations between spectral changes in monolayer and multilayers of Chi a and Chi b and their adducts with water and dioxane have been established. Spectroscopic evidence has indicated that, although there are no individual absorption bands that can be assigned to pure Mg-nitrogen and/or Mg-oxygen stretching or bending modes, there are several bands in the400–200 cm^?1 region of the spectra containing considerable contributions from metal-nitrogen and metal-oxygen vibrational modes. These specific vibrations exhibit marked intensity changes and shifts upon water and dioxane interaction. The different states of chlorophyll aggregation in Langmuir-Blodgett mono- and multilayers films resulted in noticeable changes in their far-IR spectra.