Study of complex molecules of biological interest with synchrotron radiation

Synchrotron radiation and synchrotron based spectroscopic techniques have found important applications in the study of isolated molecular species of biological interest. In this paper, some examples of spectroscopic and dynamic studies of amino acids and small peptides, nucleobases and pharmaceuticals are reviewed. Opportunities offered by the advent of new radiation sources combined with novel methods for the production of beams of these molecules are also discussed.