Beyond Spectral Similarity: How to Distinguish Polymorphs with Similar Solid-State Circular Dichroism Anisotropy Spectra?
August 2025
in “
ChemPhotoChem
”

TLDR A new method using solid-state circular dichroism anisotropy can distinguish similar chiral compounds better than traditional techniques.
The study explores the limitations of conventional electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectroscopy in distinguishing chiral compounds with similar spectra and introduces solid-state circular dichroism anisotropy (CDA) as a solution. By examining two polymorphs of finasteride, the research demonstrates that CDA, when combined with ECD imaging (ECDi) and TDDFT-simulated spectra from X-ray structures, can reveal critical differences between polymorphs that ECD alone cannot detect. This proof-of-concept study suggests a new strategy for differentiating chiral solid-state systems, potentially overcoming challenges faced by traditional methods.