IR, Raman and SERS spectra of ethyl salicylate

The IR and Raman spectra of ethyl salicylate were recorded and analyzed. The surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectrum was recorded in a silver colloid. The vibrational wavenumbers of the compound have been computed using the Hartree-Fock/6-31G* basis. The direction of charge transfer contribution to SERS has been discussed from the frontier orbital theory. The presence of methyl modes in the SERS spectrum indicates the nearness of the methyl group to the metal surface and the presence of ring vibrations and out-of-plane ring modes in the SERS spectrum suggests a flat orientation of the molecule on the silver surface. The first hyperpolarizability is calculated and the calculated molecular geometry has been compared with the reported similar structures. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.