ABSTRACT
Vibrational circular dichroism is a relatively new member in the class of spectroscopic phenomena known as optical activity. This chapter introduces the reader to the new form of molecular spectroscopy. It indicates some of the directions that applications have taken to date and offers a glimpse of how vibrational circular dichroism may likely have an impact on the study of biological systems in the years to come. In the absence of a magnetic field, optical activity is supported in a molecular sample only if the constituent molecules lack mirror symmetry. Under these circumstances, the molecules are said to be chiral, or optically active. Optical activity in electronic transitions has proven to be a valuable source of stereochemical information for a wide variety of biologically relevant molecules. From the spectra obtained to date it is quite clear that vibrational optical activity contains a wealth of sensitive stereochemical information.
