Normal mode analysis of γ form of oleic acid

Raman and infrared spectroscopy of carbohydrates: A review

Carbohydrates are widespread and naturally occurring compounds, and essential constituents for living organisms. They are quite often reported when biological systems are studied and their role is discussed. However surprisingly, up till now there is no database collecting vibrational spectra of carbohydrates and their assignment, as has been done already for other biomolecules. So, this paper serves as a comprehensive review, where for selected 14 carbohydrates in the solid state both FT-Raman and ATR FT-IR spectra were collected and assigned. Carbohydrates can be divided into four chemical groups and in the same way is organized this review. First, the smallest molecules are discussed, i.e. monosaccharides (d-(-)-ribose, 2-deoxy-d-ribose, l-(-)-arabinose, d-(+)-xylose, d-(+)-glucose, d-(+)-galactose and d-(-)-fructose) and disaccharides (d-(+)-sucrose, d-(+)-maltose and d-(+)-lactose), and then more complex ones, i.e. trisaccharides (d-(+)-raffinose) and polysaccharides (amylopectin, amylose, glycogen). Both Raman and IR spectra were collected in the whole spectral range and discussed looking at the specific regions, i.e. region V (3600-3050cm^-1), IV (3050-2800cm^-1) and II (1200-800cm^-1) assigned to the stretching vibrations of the OH, CH/CH₂ and C-O/C-C groups, respectively, and region III (1500-1200cm^-1) and I (800-100cm^-1) dominated by deformational modes of the CH/CH₂ and CCO groups, respectively. In spite of the fact that vibrational spectra of saccharides are significantly less specific than spectra of other biomolecules (e.g. lipids or proteins), marker bands of the studied molecules can be identified and correlated with their structure.

Ordered nanostructures on a hydroxylated aluminum surface through the self-assembly of fatty acids

We investigate the mechanism of self-assembly of fatty acids (FA) and methyl oleate on an Al oxy-hydroxide surface with a view to deciphering the role and nature of interfacial processes (adsorption, chemical binding, molecular organization, etc.). For this purpose, we focus on parameters related to intrinsic properties of molecules, namely the level of unsaturation and the nature of the head group (carboxylic acid or ester). After the FA adsorption, the presence of coordinative bonded carboxylate species on the Al oxy-hydroxide surface is demonstrated by means of PM-IRRAS analysis. We observe that contact of methyl oleate with the surface leads to its chemical transformation through a saponification reaction. As a consequence, it binds to the surface in a manner similar to that for fatty acids. Through an innovative mode of atomic force microscopy (AFM), the organization of the adsorbed molecules is demonstrated. Our results reveal the existence of highly ordered nanostructures guided by the FA self-assembly. The size of these nanostructures was determined with accuracy, suggesting that it exceeds one FA monolayer. By contrast, no organization was observed with methyl oleate.

Phase transitions in oleic acid and in human breast tissue as studied by Raman spectroscopy and Raman imaging

We present the results of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Raman studies in the temperature range of 293-77 K on vibrational properties of the oleic acid and the human breast tissue as a function of temperature. We have found that vibrational properties are very sensitive indicators to specify phases and phase transitions at the molecular level. We have found that water content confined in the cancerous tissue is markedly different from that in the noncancerous tissue. The OH stretching vibrations of water are useful as potential Raman biomarkers to distinguish between the cancerous and the noncancerous human breast tissues. Our results provide experimental evidence on the role of lipid profile and cell hydration as factors of particular significance in differentiation of the noncancerous and cancerous breast tissues.

An ab initio and DFT study of structure and vibrational spectra of gamma form of oleic acid: comparison to experimental data

Oleic acid (cis-9-octadecenoic acid) is the most abundant cis-unsaturated fatty acid in nature; it is distributed in almost all organisms. In this work, we present a detailed vibrational spectroscopy investigation of Oleic acid by using infrared and Raman spectroscopies. These data are supported by quantum mechanical calculations, which allow us to characterize completely the vibrational spectra of this compound. The equilibrium geometry, harmonic vibrational frequencies, infrared intensities and activities of Raman scattering were calculated by ab initio Hartree-Fock (HF) and density functional theory (DFT) employing B3LYP with complete relaxation in the potential energy surface using 6-311G(d, p) basis set. After a proper scaling the calculated wavenumbers show a very good agreement with the observed values. A complete vibrational assignment is provided for the observed Raman and infrared spectra of Oleic acid. In this work, we also investigate the deviation of vibrational wavenumbers computed with two quantum chemical methods (HF and B3LYP).