Resonance Raman spectroscopy in biochemistry and biology

Abstract

Resonance Raman (RR) spectroscopy provides detailed information on the vibrational and electronic properties of biochemical and biological chromophores. The analysis of RR spectra, using for example model compounds or a group frequency approach, enables us to form an accurate structural picture of the chromophore in its natural biological site. Moreover, the insight gained into the electronic states of a biological chromophore can be crucial to our understanding of its function. Thus the RR technique represents a powerful means of eliciting precise structural and electronic data from a coloured species and of focusing upon key aspects of its function. It has even been possible to obtain RR spectra from some natural chromophores invivo, giving spectra detailed and informative enough to please a spectroscopist from a system complex enough to satisfy a biologist.