Circular Dichroism Spectrophotometers
Whether you are doing protein denaturation studies 260-190 nm or MCD 1100-2700 nm, you
want the right answer. And you want it quickly, easily, perfectly.
Design advances by OLIS make these instruments as easy to use correctly as a UV/Vis
spectrometer. After all: CD is abs(L) minus abs(R).
These advances simplify all instrument settings and eliminate all potential for incorrect answers.
Non-OLIS CDs
calculate the answer as
decoupled AC and DC intensities,
times a calibration constant k,
Should you care? Yes! if you want to eliminate as many routes to problems as possible. Yes! If you want the peace of mind that comes from knowing that the answer can only be correct. Yes! If you want best results with least waste.
Did you notice another attribute of the OLIS CDs? They utilize all of the light, collecting and averaging two CD scans simultaneously.
All OLIS DSM CDs
collect the answer as
CD = abs(L) - abs(R)
There are five OLIS CDs, three for dual beam CD and two for single beam CD plus single beam CPL.
Practical Considerations when comparing “170 nm” (OLIS) with “163 nm” (APP and Jasco):
Our competition in the UK, Applied Photophysics, has produced a nice document reminding everyone that “170 nm is the lower wavelength limit for benchtop CD instruments, and is only achievable with experimental conditions that are not really feasible for every-day work.” The document ends with “As with other technical specifications, comparisons of different instruments against each other should be based on sensible, applicable requirements rather than numbers that lack relation to real-life situations. Unfortunately, a technical specification sheet is not designed to include comprehensive and intricate considerations such as those above. Fortunately though, there are avid users such as yourself who take the time to learn and understand them!” Read the full document here:
Resources
Linearity of the OLIS DSM CDs
Numerous advantages come from the direct subtractive method (DSM) which was pioneered by Dr. Richard J. DeSa in the 1990s and made possible by the brilliant software developed by Denghui Cheng, including perfect linearity as far as you will ever need.