Aggregation-Induced Resonance Raman Optical Activity (AIRROA): A New Mechanism for Chirality Enhancement

• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b02273
• Publication Date: 2016-04-09T01:01:08Z
• Authors: Grzegorz Zajac; Agnieszka Kaczor; Ana Pallares Zazo; Jacek Mlynarski; Monika Dudek; Malgorzata Baranska
• Keywords: Molecular Structure; circularly polarized light; low sensitivity; chirality; Xanthophylls; Spectrum Analysis, Raman; 01 natural sciences; chiroptical spectroscopy; resonance Raman; strong absorptions; 0104 chemical sciences; supramolecular aggregation; optical materials; resonance; Raman optical activity; induced signal

Raman optical activity (ROA) spectroscopy is hampered by low sensitivity, with limited possibilities for enhancing the signal. In the present study, we report a new mechanism whereby chirality is enhanced using the resonance resulting from supramolecular aggregation. We have named this mechanism aggregation-induced resonance Raman optical activity (AIRROA). As an example, we study J-aggregates of astaxanthin (AXT), which show strong absorption of circularly polarized light in the range of ROA excitation. The implications of aggregation-induced signal enhancement for chiroptical spectroscopy are discussed.