Raman Spectroscopy is a non-destructive chemical analysis technique which provides detailed information about chemical structure, phase and polymorphy, crystallinity and molecular interactions. It is based upon the interaction of light with the chemical bonds within a material.

Raman is a light scattering technique, whereby a molecule scatters incident light from a high intensity laser light source.

Current pharmaceutical applications cover a broad range from discovery to manufacturing of drugs in the pharmaceutical industry like identifying polymorphs, monitoring real-time processes, detection of counterfeit and adulterated pharmaceutical products and imaging solid dosage formulations. Raman imaging combines spectral and spatial information and generates chemical image of a two-dimensional area of a sample. It shows promising results in its ability to visualize the drug and excipients distribution in pharmaceutical formulations such as tablets, creams and ointments. The cover story of this month titled: “Raman Spectroscopy – Process Development and Monitoring” contributed by authored by Metrohm India pvt ltd.