Circular dichroism

Circular dichroism (CD) is a spectroscopic technique used to measure the differential absorption of left-handed and right-handed circularly polarized light by optically active substances. This property is typically associated with chiral molecules, such as proteins, nucleic acids, and some small organic compounds. In CD spectroscopy, when a chiral molecule interacts with circularly polarized light, it can absorb one polarization more than the other, leading to a measurable difference in the intensity of the transmitted light.