Pharmaceutical and Medical Applications of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)

Abstract

In the domains of pharmaceuticals and microbiology, there are a number of analytical techniques and among these popular techniques is the infrared spectroscopy. Among the various techniques employed in the optical spectroscopy FTIR or Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy is considered to be one of the most efficient. This is a chemical method that uses infrared radiation at a specific wavelength to study the peak vibrations of a given chemical compound to identify the structure of the compound. This is the most efficient analysis when compared to the other two and does not harm the chip in any way. Overall, it is useful in assessing the values of any biotechnology pharmaceutical in both solid and liquid forms as well as any other detergent form. This paper presents a brief overview of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in multiple fields of specializations including biochemistry, geochemistry and the analysis of some herbal medicines and oils.

Since herbs are mixtures of multiple components for which every component possesses unique properties and characteristics, analytical chemists still work with challenging problems while doing pharmacognostic analysis of medicinal herbs. Ensuring quality of the raw materials used and the finished herbal products was mainly achieved through Chemical Analysis that involves the use of instruments such as Gas Chromatography, Mass Spectrometer, and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography. When one considers the vast popularity of using this technique in areas such as microbiology, pharmaceuticals, and the food and bev- erage industries, along with many others, the lack of spe- cific applications of infrared (IR) spectroscopy for analyzing herbs has been somewhat astonishing. This essay lays the following objectives: firstly, to provide future researchers with a basis for further study on plant analysis with herbs as an interest; secondly, to elongate the use of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in the field of herbal analysis in particular. Hence, a case study was made employing sound chemometric tools like PCA and SIMCA for obtaining the necessary chemical insights from the infrared spectra. The above stated method can effectively help in the authentication of a wide number of herbal samples and can also serve to provide a measure of assurance to quality control.

There are many instruments that can be used for qualifying and quantifying substances namely nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Further, data reduction can be performed using NMR since the technique is quantitative in nature. Quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) has dual uses in the pharmaceutical industry: The key goals of the analysis were the identification and quantification of medications. When it comes to the primary phase in drug development, a small sample is best suited for trials and testing. Therefore, to maximise value from minimised cost, time, and quantity of samples, this method has to be given priority. This method is quite revolutionary in the characterization of formulations and the identification of IPC samples particularly for contaminants, active medicinal substances, and residual solvents. Meanwhile, the political aspect of the pharmaceutical business reveals that qNMR is regularly employed to qualify virtually any drug product, as pointed out by analysts. Both proportional and referential methods come into handy when one is seeking to attach a specific figure to a given segment in both process control samples as well as final products.