Raman spectroscopy in the near infrared – a most capable method of vibrational spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy has enjoyed a dramatic improvement during the last years: The interference by the fluorescence of impurities is virtually eliminated, the sample preparation is considerably easier as for infrared spectroscopy and many applications in routine analytics, quality control and process control in various branches of industry are now possible. It is shown that the up-to-date near-infrared Raman spectrometers now meet most demands for a modern analytical instrument concerning applicability, analytical information and convenience. It can be anticipated that Raman spectroscopy will catch up infrared spectroscopy, the current workhorse of vibrational spectroscopy.     

Die Möglichkeiten der Raman-Spektroskopie im Nah-Infrarot-Bereich,Teil II

By shifting the Raman effect into the near infrared, fluorescene, which obscures the weak Raman signals, can be virtually eliminated. This development made it possible to record Raman spectra of almost any sample from industry – of minerals, of food, and even of living tissues for medical diagnosis. Of special importance is the recent use of fiber optics for applications to production control and quality assurance. Nondestructive analysis of paintings, objects d'art, antiquities, and even of fossibles is now possible. Thus, Raman spectroscopy is now more powerful and more universally applicable than the complexentary infrared spectroscopy.     

Chemical Applications of Raman Spectroscopy

Raman spectorscopy is—like infrared spectroscopy—a method for the study of vibrations of molecules and crystals. The two methods are complementary: if a vibration results in a change of the polarizability of a molecule, it is Raman active; if a change in the molecular dipole moment results, it is infrared active Vibrations of nonpolar groups and totally symmetrical vibrations of molecules are often only Raman active. IR and Raman spectra together give information about the symmetries and structures of molecules and crystals and about the properties of chemical bonds and intermolecular interactions. Until about 10 years ago Raman spectra could only be recorded on relatively large amounts of essentially colorless substances. After the advent of laser light sources the situation changed completely. The amount of sample substance required is now in the region of milli- and micrograms. Gases, liquids and solid samples, especially air-sensitive and reactive substances, single crystals, crystal needles and filaments as well as aqueous solutions can be readily investigated. The identification of molecules and the elucidation of molecular structures, biochemical analysis, and control of evnivornmental pollution are important aplications of Raman spectroscopy. Raman spectroscopy now constitutes an additional powerful tool in instrumental analysis     

Studies on Hadamard Transform Fluorimetry

Hadamard transform spectroscopy has been investigated since the later 1960's and early 1970's. It was demonstrated that the application of Hadamard transform technique to spectroscopy can facilitate multichannel detection of weak signal. It can be appplied not only to component analysis, but to image analysis. Now, it has been widely used in infrared spectrometry, Raman spectrometry and photothermal deflection analysis. But its application to molecular fluorimetry has not been reported up to now.     

An infrared and Raman spectroscopic study of natural zinc phosphates

Zinc phosphates are important in the study of the phosphatisation of metals. Raman spectroscopy in combination with infrared spectroscopy has been used to characterise the zinc phosphate minerals. The minerals may be characterised by the patterns of the hydroxyl stretching vibrations in both the Raman and infrared spectra. Spencerite is characterised by a sharp Raman band at 3516 cm(-1) and tarbuttite by a single band at 3446 cm(-1). The patterns of the Raman spectra of the hydroxyl stretching region of hopeite and parahopeite are different in line with their differing crystal structures. The Raman spectrum of the PO4 stretching region shows better band separated peaks than the infrared spectra which consist of a complex set of overlapping bands. The position of the PO4 symmetric stretching mode can be used to identify the zinc phosphate mineral. It is apparent that Raman spectroscopy lends itself to the fundamental study of the evolution of zinc phosphate films.     

Biomedical Vibrational Spectroscopy in the Era of Artificial Intelligence

Biomedical vibrational spectroscopy has come of age. The past twenty years have brought many advancements and new developments and now its practitioners face a new challenge: artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence has the capability to detect meaningful relationships in data sets such as those found in an infrared or Raman spectrum. The present narrative assesses the degree to which biomedical vibrational spectroscopy has already embraced artificial intelligence and what can be expected going forward. This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomedical Applications of Infrared and Raman Spectroscopy.     

Future directions for Fourier Transform Raman spectroscopy in industrial analysis

FT Raman spectroscopy is now the most widely used method for overcoming fluorescence in Raman spectroscopy. Its main use is for extending the range and type of samples which are amenable to Raman spectroscopy. Over the last year or so much has been achieved using the method for solving industrial analytical problems. This article details some examples of the application of the method to such problems. It also highlights areas for future deveopment, in particular reaction monitoring and remote sampling. These are felt to be areas in which FT Raman spectroscopy can make a significant impact in the industrial world.     

Quantitative determination of binary and tertiary calcium carbonate mixtures using powder X-ray diffraction

The ability to determine the calcium carbonate polymorphic ratio of calcite, aragonite and vaterite in a mixture is important for a variety of applications, particularly the fields of biomineralisation and crystal engineering. Raman spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction were used to quantitatively determine the polymorphic composition of both binary and tertiary mixtures of calcium carbonate. It was found that the quantitative detection limits of powder X-ray diffraction were superior to both Raman and infrared spectroscopy.     

Raman spectroscopy of archaeological and ancient resins: problems with database construction for applications in conservation and historical provenancing

The adoption of Raman spectroscopy as a screening technique for the presence of organic resins on diverse substrates is now being advocated for the first pass non-destructive examination of potential sites for limited sampling using other analytical techniques. The characterisation of ancient resins in art work and specimens recovered from archaeological excavations is critically dependent upon the analytical capability of Raman spectroscopy using different wavelengths of excitation from the visible to the near infrared and the interpretation of the data illustrates the advantages and limitations of the technique. Resin specimens from art works and artefacts span a period of about 7000 years of recorded history and the influence of factors such as the environmental degradation, burial deposition, reaction with associated substrates and mineral pigments on the observed Raman spectra have been assessed. The key molecular Raman spectral features that are definitive for the discrimination between contemporary resins are considered in respect of these factors and thereby illustrative of the difficulties posed for the creation of a Raman spectral database of ancient resins, in contrast with the extensive and definitive literature equivalents that are available for their mineral pigment and organic dye analogues.     

Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy of polymeric biomaterials and drug delivery systems

The characterization of drugs within polymer supports is an important prerequisite to our understanding of the chemical and/or physical mechanisms which control the release of drugs into the body from a biomedical polymer.The spectra of biomolecules obtained using a visible source are often accompanied by a strong persistent fluorescence background which is difficult to control. This has so far prevented the routine use of Raman spectroscopy in the analysis of biological compounds.FT Raman spectroscopy in the near infrared has proved on many occasions to be highly efficient in avoiding such problems. We have here reviewed the potential of FT Raman spectroscopy as an analytical technique for polymeric delivery systems by describing spectra of several significant drugs in clinically valuable polymeric supports.