Top content published this week include an examination of how near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is being changed by machine learning and the final part in a panel discussion on spectroscopy education.
News|Articles|May 3, 2024
Best of the Week: Intermolecular Interactions, Illegal Ivory Trade, Breaking Down Fentanyl
Author(s)Will Wetzel
Spectroscopy published stories on Raman, infrared spectroscopy, UV-vis, and more. Here are the top reads from the week.
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This week, Spectroscopy published a variety of articles on the hottest topics in analytical spectroscopy and beyond, covering a wide range of spectroscopic techniques and how they are being applied in various application areas. Below, we’ve highlighted some of the most popular articles, according to our readers and subscribers. Happy reading!
Researchers collaborating from Peking University in China, Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan, and the University of Delaware in the United States have developed a new approach to analyzing intermolecular interactions using two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2D-COS). This method could lead to a deeper understanding of complex chemical processes and open doors to new discoveries in supramolecular chemistry.
The illegal ivory trade has been primarily responsible for the dramatic depletion of endangered elephant populations in Africa and Asia. In this study, researchers from the University of Bristol shows how Raman spectroscopy can be used to distinguish between ivory belonging to elephants or mammoths. The illegal ivory trade has been primarily responsible for the dramatic depletion of endangered elephant populations in Africa and Asia. This study, led by Rebecca F. Shepherd from the University of Bristol, examined how Raman spectroscopy can help in species identification of ivory.
Scientists from Florida International University and Escola Universitària Salesiana de Sarrià Passeig are working on a novel approach to differentiate the structure of fentanyl analogues by using SERS as a technique to analyze fentanyl analogues. This approach uses Raman spectroscopy with colloidal metal nanoparticles, allowing for highly sensitive spectroscopic readings. Two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2D-COS) is gaining traction among chemists for its ability to examine intermolecular interactions in complex systems. However, analyzing these interactions can be challenging due to overlapping spectral peaks.
The first quarter of 2024 also brought about some newly developed content projects at Spectroscopy. These new projects are designed to present the technical information our audience craves in a more digestible and readable format.
Over the past quarter, we have expanded our interview coverage by reaching out to different subject matter experts (SMEs) in the field. Our goal in doing so was to cover a wider breadth of topics for our audience, as well as shine a light on the ongoing research happening in spectroscopy and related applications.
Dark tea, particularly Pu-erh ripe tea, is renowned for its rich content of theabrownins, yet industrial production of these compounds has remained an ongoing challenge. A recent study examined the ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) and infrared (IR) spectra of theabrownins in dark tea, revealing more about the theoretical foundation for the industrial-scale production of theabrownins.
References
(1) Workman, Jr. J. Unlocking Supramolecular Chemistry: A New 2D-COS Approach to Intermolecular Interactions. Spectroscopy. Available at:
(2) Wetzel, W. Using Raman Spectroscopy to Distinguish Elephant and Mammoth Ivory. Spectroscopy. Available at:
(3) Workman, Jr. J. Breaking Down Fentanyl: New Technique Offers Promising Results in Differentiating Analogues. Spectroscopy. Available at:
(4) Wetzel, W. Spectroscopy Spotlight: Highlighting Interviews from the Past Quarter. Spectroscopy. Available at:
(5) Wetzel, W. Characterizing Theabrownins in Dark Tea Using Ultraviolet-Visible and Infrared Spectroscopy. Spectroscopy. Available at:
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Related to this article
Wednesday's program at SciX 2026 kept returning to one question: can spectroscopy perform outside the controlled laboratory? Speakers took surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), mid-infrared photonics, chemometrics, and fluorescence excitation–emission matrix (EEM) spectroscopy into clinics, food plants, reactor coolant loops, brine fields, and drinking water supplies.
A candid plenary on the incentives shaping academic science was followed by an afternoon of talks spanning flowing SERS detection, historical textiles, maple syrup, pathogen immunoassays, and electrochemical Raman microscopy.
Eight FACSS award winners at SciX 2026, One LIBS trailblazer. Forty-eight questions. And not one of them is a softball. Award season in spectroscopy usually means polite applause, a plaque, and a photo. We're not completely interested only in the award sessions. The eight scientists honored at SciX 2026 in Sparks, Nevada, along with LIBS researcher Alessandro De Giacomo, are pushing Raman into operating rooms, flying LIBS on drones, reading chemistry off Mars, and tracing toxic metals downwind of industrial sites. Their work makes big claims. In the coming days, Spectroscopy will sit down with eight of these researchers and ask whether those claims hold up.
The interviews that follow won't just celebrate. They'll press on the gaps between simulation and experiment, between the lab bench and the clinic, and between a clever paper and an instrument someone will actually buy and use.
Top content published this week include a panel discussion with five SpecAcademy instructors and a feature article on Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy.
Top content published this week includes coverage from the 2026 SciX Conference, which took place in Sparks, Nevada, from October 4–9.
At SciX, Juergen Popp explains why a new infection test must fit hospital workflows, outperform the gold standard, and cost about a euro or less per test. He also describes a host-response test that could change how emergency departments treat suspected sepsis.
Jay Kitt of the University of Utah explains that his group’s platform for quantitative Raman measurements inside chromatographic particles didn’t come from a search for signal enhancement. It grew out of a decade of chromatography and biochemistry research.
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