Raman excitation profiles of β ‐carotene – novel insights into the nature of the ν₁‐band

In the present work we have studied β ‐carotene dissolved in dichloromethane by means of resonance Raman spectroscopy. To obtain the Raman excitation profiles Raman spectra of β ‐carotene have been acquired at various wavelengths throughout the visible region. It was found that the position of the prominent peak at ca. 1524 cm –1 varies with the excitation wavelength indicating the involvement of two different modes. Possible origins of the different enhancement pattern of the two modes are discussed. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)