Vibrational optical activity

Vibrational optical activity (VOA) is used to uncover information on the structure of optically active molecules. VOA consists of two spectroscopic techniques: infrared vibrational circular dichroism and vibrational Raman optical activity. All optical activity measurements involve determining the differential response of a chiral molecule to left- and right-circularly polarized radiation. VOA combines the stereochemical sensitivity of natural optical activity with the rich structural content of vibrational spectroscopy. VOA is principally used for the structure elucidation of biologically significant molecules, and has a growing potential as a chiral diagnostic probe.