Why is infrared spectroscopy used in organic chemistry?

Question

Elias Aguila · Accepted Answer

Because it CAN be useful; especially in the identification of #C=O# and #C-D# #(""^2H-C)# bonds.

When I asked some of the older organic professors at the university why they were so good at identifying and interpreting IR spectra, they told me that because IR spectrometers were the only instrumental method of characterization available at the time they were developed (the 1960s and 1970s), they had no choice but to become experts in the field. Of course, carbonyl bonds (#C=O#) are very easy to identify in IR spectra, so IR spectroscopy is an excellent means to monitor oxidation reactions, or to characterize #M-C-=O# species. One use of IR spectroscopy involves the replacement of an active hydrogen on the molecule by the deuterium nucleus - these are identical chemically, but the increased mass of the of the #""^2H# nucleus means that the #C-D# or #M-D# stretch will occur at a predictably lower frequency, and allow assignment of the #M-H# stretch. So isotopic substitution of an element hydrogen bond is an area where IR spectroscopy is still will widely used.

Easton Jones · Answer

undefined Infrared spectroscopy is used in organic chemistry because it allows chemists to identify functional groups and analyze the molecular structure of organic compounds based on their absorption of infrared radiation.