ABSTRACT
Elucidation of the molecular conformation of a biomolecule is an important step in determining the relationship between physical structure and biochemical function. In addition, the elucidation of conformational structure for biological macromolecules invariably leads to insights concerning the function of the molecule. Techniques such as X-ray diffraction, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), electron spin resonance (ESR), fluorescence, infrared, and Raman have been used to obtain detailed information about biomolecular structure. This chapter describes the use of Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) to monitor the molecular conformation of model membranes. It mentions two advantages of FT-IR spectrometers. First, while the fact that high signal-to-noise ratio (SNRs) can readily be achieved is well known, the precision of the frequency scale is not so widely recognized. Second, the instruments are extremely versatile. Spectral ranges from the near ultraviolet (UV) to the far infrared can be selected by changing the source, detector, and beam splitter.
