Raman microspectroscopic imaging has been utilized for the investigation of pathological changes in the liver induced by diabetes and atherosclerosis.

Raman optical activity (ROA) spectra were calculated for a set of conformers of astaxanthin, which is a non‐rigid molecule exhibiting strong resonance enhancement in the visible range. Single electronic state theory of the Resonance ROA (RROA) predicts the spectrum to be monosigned. For astaxanthin, it appeared that some of the conformers exhibit different sign of the bands than the other conformers. As a result, the conformer population averaged spectrum of astaxanthin can exhibit both signs of the bands, or be monosigned depending on which conformers are dominating, that reflects a departure from the single electronic state approximation. Moreover, use of different basis sets and/or density functional theory (DFT) functionals results in different conformer populations, thus yielding again either monosigned ROA spectrum or with bands of both signs. Consequences of these two findings for the astaxanthin RROA spectrum are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The tobacco alkaloids: nicotine, nornicotine, cotinine, anabasine, their protonated forms, and salts were analyzed by means of Raman spectroscopy supported by the density functional theory/B3LYP/aug‐cc‐pVDZ calculations. The analyses were performed based on Raman marker bands of neutral, monoprotonated, and diprotonated forms of tobacco alkaloids because in different surroundings various forms have been suggested to either dominate or to coexist. The form and distribution of nicotine directly in a plant and in phytopharmaceutical products were investigated by in situ Raman mapping. For the first time, the Raman optical activity spectrum of (−)‐nicotine in aqueous solution was measured and interpreted by means of the density functional theory calculations. The study provides a clear evidence that Raman spectroscopy techniques are powerful in efficient quality control and forensic and bioanalytical analyses of tobacco alkaloids. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Experimental vibrational Raman, vibrational Raman optical activity (VROA), and dimensionless circular intensity difference (CID) spectra are analyzed with quantum chemical (QC) predictions of the corresponding spectra using the B3LYP functional and the aug‐cc‐pVDZ basis set, for five bicyclic terpenes as test cases. The experimentally measured vibrational Raman and VROA spectra have arbitrary y‐axis intensities, because of their dependence on instrumental parameters. As a result, the absolute magnitudes of intensities in experimental and calculated vibrational Raman or vibrational ROA spectra are not normally analyzed. However, the experimental dimensionless CID spectrum is independent of the instrumental parameters and can be evaluated quantitatively with corresponding QC predicted CID spectrum. The similarity overlaps between experimental and quantum chemical predictions of vibrational Raman, VROA, and dimensionless CID spectra are evaluated. The quantum chemical predictions of dimensionless CID spectral magnitudes at B3LYP/aug‐ccpVDZ level match well with the corresponding experimental magnitudes. The individual anisotropic contributions to VROA and CID spectra are also presented. The anisotropic contribution involving electric dipole‐electric quadrupole polarizability derivative tensor is relatively smaller than that involving electric dipole‐magnetic dipole polarizability derivative tensor. A new format, which contains all of the information needed for the spectral analysis, has been advanced for presenting the vibrational Raman, VROA, and CID spectra and their similarity analysis with corresponding QC‐predicted spectra. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Cinchona alkaloids are well-known antimalarial compounds also used in asymmetric synthesis in organic chemistry. In this work, vibrational spectra of quinine, quinidine, cinchonine, and cinchonidine were acquired and interpreted on the basis of theoretical calculations. Normal Raman spectra of the alkaloids in solution exhibit similar patterns and cannot be used for differentiation between the derivatives (e.g. quinine and cinchonidine) and corresponding pseudoenantiomers (e.g. quinine and quinidine). Thus, Raman Optical Activity (ROA) method was applied to show distinct differences related to the configuration of chiral atoms. ROA allowed unequivocal identification of the pseudoenantiomers based on the sign of the characteristic bands from a single measurement. The experiments were supported by the theoretical approach including conformational study followed by wavenumber calculations and Potential Energy Distribution (PED) analysis. For quinine, vibrational spectroscopy was additionally used to show its structural changes in aqueous solutions at various pH and its distribution in a pharmaceutical product. Spatial distribution of quinine in a drug was observed by the FT-Raman mapping technique.

The composition of the lung tissue of mice was investigated using Raman confocal microscopy at 532 nm excitation wavelength and was supported with various staining techniques as well as DFT calculations. This combination of experimental and theoretical techniques allows for the study of the distribution of lung lipofibroblasts (LIFs), rich in vitamin A, as well as the chemical structure of vitamin A. The comparison of the Raman spectra derived from LIFs with the experimental and theoretical spectra of standard retinoids showed the ability of LIFs to store all-trans retinol, which is partially oxidized to all-trans retinal and retinoic acid. Moreover, we were able to visualize the distribution of other lung tissue components including the surfactant and selected enzymes (lipoxygenase/glucose oxidase).

In this paper, a novel approach to analyze in situ (−)-bornyl acetate (BA) in pichtae essential oil (Siberian fir needle oil, Abies sibirica oil) by means of Raman optical activity (ROA) is reported. As part of this approach, a conformational study in the gas phase of (+)-and (−)-BA has been carried out, predicting the presence of three conformers for each enantiomer at 298.15 K. The structures of these conformers were optimized with density functional theory with the Becke 3LYP functional and 6-311++g * * basis set. Subsequently, the Raman and ROA spectra were simulated in order to compare them with the experimentally measured spectra of the neat enantiomers of BA. Finally, the combination of Raman and ROA spectroscopy as well as DFT calculations was successfully applied not only for the detection of BA but also for the determination of the specific enantiomer of BA present in the investigated pichtae essential oil samples. Thus, the ROA technique described here has the potential to be used as a fast and easy commercial method to control the quality of essential oils.