Vibrational circular dichroism beyond solutions

Since the first vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) experiments conducted in the early 1970s, VCD spectroscopy has significantly advanced and firmly established itself in various fields of modern science and technology. For example, it became one of the preferred methods for absolute configuration determination in the pharmaceutical industry. Nevertheless, VCD development and applications have mostly focused on samples in solution, whereas applications to solid-state samples remain relatively rare. Although the first solid-state experiments were performed around the time of VCD discovery, they did not become the mainstream due to considerably more demanding methodological and theoretical challenges. In this review, we take the reader on a journey through some of the applications of VCD spectroscopy to solid-state samples. We look at the field of solid-state VCD from both a historical perspective and a methodological point of view, highlighting the diverse directions explored with this technique. We attempt to categorize all the variety of solid-state VCD experiments undertaken to date. Additionally, we briefly outline the main challenges faced by the field, and provide an overview of the theoretical methodology accompanying the experimental developments. Finally, we conclude our solid-state VCD journey with an outlook on the future prospects of the field.