Josef Michl

This book offers an elementary introduction to optical spectroscopy with polarized light. It is written at a level suitable for undergraduate students in chemistry and undergraduate or graduate students in related disciplines such as biochemistry, biology, chemical engineering and materials science. It emphasizes the qualitative concepts and deemphasizes mathematics, yet provides sufficient information and practical hints for experiments. With this book in hand, anyone who can measure an ordinary infrared, ultraviolet or visible absorption or fluorescence emission spectrum can measure a polarized one as well and learn far more about the sample.

This book deals with polarized optical spectroscopy of partially oriented fluid or rigid solutions. Starting from elementary concepts and relying on numerous illustrations, it provides an introduction to those interested in the measurement of the anisotropy of molecular optical properties in the UV, visible or IR regions (one- and two- photon absorption, simultaneous or sequential, luminescence, Raman scattering, natural and magnetic potical activity), or in the determination of uniaxial order and organization in supermolecular assemblies (liquid crystals, stretched polymers, membranes). The orienting effects of radiation (photoselection) are covered as well. A large number of examples of research applications within chemistry, biophysics, biochemistry, and polymer science are given together with examples of practical application.

This volume provides a non-mathematical introduction to electronic excitation in organic molecules and their spectroscopy, photophysics, and photochemistry. Simple qualitative models, such as the perimeter model, are used to describe the nature of electronic states, and this book reveals how these states are probed by spectroscopy with ordinary and polarized light, including natural and magnetic circular dichroism. The concept of potential energy surfaces is emphasized in discussing the photophysical processes and photochemical reactions that follow excitation. Particular attention is paid to the behavior of molecules at biradicaloid geometries and spin-orbit coupling in biradicals. Simple intuitive models for electronic structure and reactivity are emphasized, and practical application of theory is illustrated through numerous worked examples.