The Determination of Molecular Structure

Abstract

In times past the chemist wishing to determine the structure of an unknown molecule was forced to undertake a quite complex series of tests, including degradation analyses, functional group analyses, and so on. Often a certain amount of inspired guesswork was also involved. Nowadays we are fortunate to be able to bring a formidable array of instrumental weapons to the task. Over the last few decades the techniques of: infra-red (IR), ultra-violet/visible (UV-Vis), atomic absorption (AA), Raman, nuclear magnetic resonance (nmr) and mass spectrometry have been developed or improved by enormous technological advances. In addition, sophisticated diffraction and electron microscopy techniques are also now available to the chemist.