Measurement of Vibrational Circular Dichroism spectra using the FVS-6000

It is generally understood that chiral compounds have different bioactivities depending upon the absolute configuration of each compound. Some familiar examples include glutamic acid and thalidomide. Lglutamic acid demonstrates the “Umami” taste*1, while D-glutamic acid has a bitter taste, similarly, the R form of thalidomide is a sedative, but the S form has teratogenic activity. Thus, the separation and study of chiral compounds is critical for many reasons.