Absorption spectra of β-carotene in 31 solvents are measured in ambient conditions. Solvent effects on the 0-0 band energy, the bandwidth, and the transition moment of the S0 → S2 transition are analysed. The discrepancies between published results of the solvent effects on the 0-0 band energy are explained by taking into account microscopic solutesolvent interactions. The contributions of polarity and polarizability of solvents to 0-0 band energy and bandwidth are quantitatively distinguished. The 0- 0 transition energy of the S2 state at the gas phase is predicted to locate between 23000 and 23600 cm^-1.
The molecular structural and Raman spectroscopic characteristics of fl-carotene and lycopene are investigated by density functional calculations. The effects of molecular structure and solvent environment on the Raman spectra are analyzed by comparing the calculated and measured results. It is found that the B3LYP/6-31G（d） method can predict the reasonable result for β-carotene, but the vl Raman activities of lycopene overflow at all the used theo- retical methods because of the longer conjugation length in β-carotene impedes the delocalization of ~r-electrons The calculated results indicate that the rotation of β-rings shortens the effective conjugation length, and results in higher frequency and lower activity of the vl mode in /q-carotene than lycopene. The measured vl bands of β-carotene and lycopene shift respectively to higher and lower frequencies in solution compared with that in crystals since the crystal packing forces can lead to different conformational variations in the carotenoids molecules. The polarized continuum model theoretical analysis suggests that solvent has slight （significant） effects on the Raman frequencies （intensities） of both carotenoids.
