Fingerprint region, infrared

Techniques for differentiating between amorphous and crystalline are (i) sharp melting point, (ii) sharp peaks in the solid state infrared fingerprint region, (iii) optical birefringence observed when solid is viewed in a phase contrast microscope and (iv) sharp peaks in the powder X-ray diffraction pattern. 

Fingerprint region (Section 13 20) The region 1400-625 cm of an infrared spectrum This region is less character istic of functional groups than others but varies so much from one molecule to another that it can be used to deter mine whether two substances are identical or not Fischer esterification (Sections 15 8 and 19 14) Acid cat alyzed ester formation between an alcohol and a carboxylic acid... 

Fingerprint region (Section 12.7) The complex region of the infrared spectrum from 1500 to 400 cm-1. 

The next most useful is vibrational spectroscopy but identification of large molecules is still uncertain. In the laboratory, vibrational spectroscopy in the infrared (IR) is used routinely to identify the functional groups in organic molecules but although this is important information it is not sufficient to identify the molecule. Even in the fingerprint region where the low wavenumber floppy vibrational modes of big molecules are observed, this is hardly diagnostic of structure. On occasion, however, when the vibrational transition can be resolved rotationally then the analysis of the spectrum becomes more certain. 

Infrared spectroscopy is an excellent tool in iminoborane chemistry, which readily permits, to distinguish between iminoboranes and nitrile-borane adducts and to identify monomeric and dimeric forms of iminoboranes. This event is due to the fact that the i>CN of CN multiple bonds absorbs outside the fingerprint region and can be considered to be a valuable group frequency even when mixed with other vibrational modes. In some cases other vibrations like NH, BH, B-halogen or B-S stretching modes are helpful for determining the structure of iminoboranes. 

The fingerprint region lies between 1300-400 cm-1 which is considered to be the most valuable component of the spectra and mainly comprises of a specifically large number of unassigned vibrations. Therefore, IR-spectroscopy aids in the identification of unknown compound by comparing its spectrum with a standard spectra recorded under exactly similar experimental parameters. Thus, pharmaceutical substances that exhibit the same infrared spectra may be inferred as identical. 

Fig. 5. A summary of the infrared absorption bands exhibited by hydrocarbon ligands on metal atoms in various model compounds. Surface species on metals may give absorptions varying by ca. 50 cm 1 from the band positions in the model-compound spectra in the fingerprint region below 1400 cm. The patterns of band-positions and intensities are significant. M indicates MSSR-allowed modes for an analogous species on a flat surface when the adsorbed species is on a site of high symmetry (--) indicates other absorptions that may occur for adsorption on less symmetrical sites or on small metal particles, vs—very strong s—strong ms—medium strong m—medium mw—medium weak w—weak.

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