Syllabus
1. Chirality and optical activity. Optically active molecules, sources of chirality, symetry of molecules. Homochirality of biologically important molecules.
2. Determination of absolute configuration of molecules by standard structural techniques (X-ray analysis, NMR, chirally sensitive chromatography, etc.) - advantages and limits.
3. Polarization properties of light, Interaction of circularly polarized light with matter. Optical rotation. Optical rotational dispersion (ORD), Cotton effect, electronic circular dichroism (ECD). Raman optical activity (ROA) and vibrational circular dichroism (VCD). Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL). Magnetic circular dichroism (MCD)
4. The theoretical ground of chiroptical spectroscopies. Dipole and rotational strength of transition. Optical tensors and their invariants.
5. Experimental aspects of chiroptical methods. Samples and their preparations. Instrumentaliyation of light sources, generating of circularily polarized light, monochromators, detectors. Dispersion and FT measurements. Methods for increasing signal to noise ratio. Sensitivity and selectivity. Spectral resolution. Spectra treatment. Modern devices for measurement of ECD, VCD and ROA. Excursions at chiroptical laboratories.
6. Interpretation of the spectra. Empirical methods, determination of spectral markers, statistical methods (PCA, FA). Ab-initio and DFT simulations of chiroptical spectra - conformational scanning, frequency and intensity calculations by using different approximations, regarding interactions in solution (influence of solvents), simulations of large systems (fragmentation).
7. applications of chiroptical methods. Structural analysis of pharmacologically important molecules and drugs. Conformational analysis of biomolecules and supramolecular systems. Advantages and disadvantages of different methods for different biophysical, biochemical and biological applications. Examples of spectra of different biomolecules (peptides and proteins, nucleic acids and their basis, saccharides and polysaccharides, etc.).
Annotation
The lectures include theory and experimental techniques of chiroptical spectroscopies and their applications.