Block 2 - Spectroscopy Flashcards
spectroscopy
study of electromagnetic radiation with matter
- allows most functional groups to be detected rapidly and often full determination of the structure of compounds
molecular spectroscopy
- depend on interaction of molecules with radiation of specific energy
- absorption of radiation of particular frequencies is characteristic of specific structural units (functional groups)
- non-destructive with respect to sample
- IR, UV-Vis, NMR
MS finds
mass of individual ions derived from compounds in gas phase
MS mechanism
electron impact: molecule bombarded with high energy electron beam
- ionised molecule (molecular ion) results from expulsion of (usually) one electron and thus is a radical cation
M = M+. + e-
M+. (fragmentation) = other +ve ions + neutral fragments
MS limitation
- can’t distinguish between isomers
- when mass measure to nearest unit value, certain molecular formulae may give same m/z
IR finds
presence/absence of particular functional groups
IR mechanism
IR radiation absorption corresponds to vibrational excitation (increasing amplitude of vibration)
- absorption occurs when radiation frequency exactly matches frequency of bond vibration
IR benefits
- rapid identification of functional groups
- fingerprint: no two compounds have identical spectra
IR limitations
- same functional groups = similar spectra
- no indication of no. functional groups (length of peak is NOT representative of this - may be due to conc.)
UV-Vis finds
presence of pi electrons and conjugation
conjugation
pi - sigma - pi
sigma - sigma* in UV-Vis
big gap = high energy requirement so realistically never happens
- thus no absorption: light just passes through
C=C in UV-Vis
pi - pi*
- absorption at ~170nm - 180nm
C=O in UV-Vis
pi - pi*
- absorption at ~170nm - 180nm
n - pi* (lone e- pair on O)
- (weak) absorption at ~280nm
pi-pi* appears first on spectra
compounds with conjugated systems in UV-Vis
absorptions at > 200nm
- greater number of double bonds in conjugation = smaller the ∆E and larger the wavelength(max)
UV-Vis limitation
doesn’t show no. pi bonds (all appear under same bump)
conjugation and molar absorptivity
no effect thus conjugation has no effect on absorbance (doesn’t show how good/bad of an absorber it is)
MS, IR and UV-Vis give
no info with respect to hydrocarbon skeleton
NMR gives
info about carbon/hydrogen framework
greatest impact on structure determination
absence of strong magnetic field
random orientation of nuclei