Knowledge Bank

Resonance Raman excitation profiles of benzene have been obtained in the 217-260 nm spectral region within the $\mathrm{<mrow\; data-mjx-texclass="ORD">1</mrow>}B2u$ benzene absorption band. The excitation profiles indicate a large intensity dependence as the excitation wavelength is tuned through the vibronic envelopes of the $\mathrm{<mrow\; data-mjx-texclass="ORD">1</mrow>}B2u$ electronic transition. The excitation profile of the $992cm-1$benzene vibration will be discussed in the framework of current resonance Raman theory. The benzene excitation profiles will be compared to excitation profiles of other substitued aromatics. The utility of UV resonance Raman spectroscopy as a selective probe for aromatic residues in polymers and proteins will also be discussed.