IR spectroscopy is the analysis of infrared radiation interacting with a compound by measuring the adsorption, emission, or reflection of the sample. The resulting spectrum represents adsorption peaks that correlate to the frequencies of vibration between the bonds of the atoms comprising the sample. Since each different material has a different chemical composition, no two would produce the same IR spectrum. Therefore, IR spectroscopy can result in the identification of different types of material and the size of the peaks in the spectrum can indicates how much material is present. A type of IR spectroscopy is Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). This method is the preference of infrared spectroscopy since it does not destroy the sample and it is significantly faster, sensitive, and precise than other techniques.
FTIR is a common laboratory technique used in failure analysis, quality control, and across many laboratory experiments to monitor chemicals, polymers, and other organic materials. A change in the observed absorption band pattern indicates a change in the composition of the material. It is useful in identifying unknown materials (solids, powders, liquids), additives after extractions, and/or oxidation and decomposition.
This standard method is a basic method for running FTIR. It identifies basic methods that can be used to identify purity, impurity, and contamination in biological drug products. The test methods can be applied to other organic systems/constituents in a standard manner.
