We report some vibrational spectroscopic approaches to studying conformatio
nal equilibria and kinetics, which were developed in recent years: (i) inve
stigation of relative band dichroism in polarized IR spectra of crystals; (
ii) kinetic investigations of conformational transitions in liquid solution
s; and (iii) use: of conformationally inhomogeneous compounds as probes for
studying molecular mobility and free volume distribution in polymers. (C)
1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.