Prediction of Raman Optical Activity Spectra of Chiral 3‐Acetylcamphorato‐Cobalt Complexes

We examine calculated vibrational Raman optical activity (ROA) spectra of octahedral cobalt complexes containing different combinations of acetylacetonato and 3‐acetylcamphorato ligands. Starting from the Δ‐tris(acetylacetonato)cobalt(III) complex, the ROA spectra of isomers generated by successive replacement of acetylacetonato ligands by chiral (+)‐ or (?)‐3‐acetylcamphorato ligands are investigated. In this way, it is possible to assess the influence of the degree of ligand substitution, ligand chirality, and geometrical isomerism on the ROA spectra. In addition, the effect of the Λ‐configuration is studied. It is found that the ROA spectra contain features that make it possible to identify each of the isomers, demonstrating the great sensitivity of ROA spectroscopy to the chiral nature of the various complexes.     

Solution Structure of Mannobioses Unravelled by Means of Raman Optical Activity

Structural analysis of carbohydrates is a complicated endeavour, due to the complexity and diversity of the samples at hand. Herein, we apply a combined computational and experimental approach, employing molecular dynamics (MD) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations together with NMR and Raman optical activity (ROA) measurements, in the structural study of three mannobiose disaccharides, consisting of two mannoses with varying glycosidic linkages. The disaccharide structures make up the scaffold of high mannose glycans and are therefore important targets for structural analysis. Based on the MD population analysis and NMR, the major conformers of each mannobiose were identified and used as input for DFT analysis. By systematically varying the solvent models used to describe water interacting with the molecules and applying overlap integral analysis to the resulting calculational ROA spectra, we found that a full quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical approach is required for an optimal calculation of the ROA parameters. Subsequent normal mode analysis of the predicted vibrational modes was attempted in order to identify possible marker bands for glycosidic linkages. However, the normal mode vibrations of the mannobioses are completely delocalised, presumably due to conformational flexibility in these compounds, rendering the identification of isolated marker bands unfeasible.     

Studying the Glycan Moiety of RNase B by Means of Raman and Raman Optical Activity

Raman and Raman optical activity (ROA) spectroscopy are used to study the solution‐phase structure of the glycan moiety of the protein ribonuclease B (RNase B). Spectral data of the intact glycan moiety of RNase B is obtained by subtracting high‐quality spectral data of RNase A, the non‐glycosylated form of the RNase, from the spectra of the glycoprotein. The remaining difference spectra are compared to spectra generated from Raman and ROA data of the constituent disaccharides of the RNase glycan, achieving convincing spectral overlap. The results show that ROA spectroscopy is able to extract detailed spectral data of the glycan moieties of proteins, provided that the non‐glycosylated isoform is available. Furthermore, good comparison between the full glycan spectrum and the regenerated spectra based on the disaccharide data lends great promise to ROA as a tool for the solution‐phase structural analysis of this structurally elusive class of biomolecules.     

Electronic Circular Dichroism-Circularly Polarized Raman (eCP-Raman): A New Form of Chiral Raman Spectroscopy

This Concept article summarizes recent work on the development of a new form of chiral Raman spectroscopy, e CP-Raman, which combines two spectroscopies: electronic circular dichroism (ECD) and circularly polarized Raman (CP-Raman). First, some puzzling observations while carrying out Raman optical activity (ROA) measurements of several transition metal complexes under resonance are described, as well as the search for the mechanisms responsible. Then an equation for quantifying the e CP-Raman contribution is presented, followed by several examples of how e CP-Raman influences the I_R−I_L spectra of achiral and chiral solvent molecules and of a number of chiral solutes under resonance. The conditions to extract resonance ROA, when the e CP-Raman contribution is minimized, are also discussed. Finally, we comment on the potential applications of e CP-Raman.     

Determination of the helical screw sense and side-group chirality of a synthetic chiral polymer from Raman optical activity

Splitting it up: Excellent agreement between the experimental and the quantum-chemically simulated Raman optical activity (ROA) spectrum of (+)-poly(trityl methacrylate) shows that the polymer backbone adopts a left-handed helical conformation while the trityl side groups display a left-handed propeller conformation. Thus ROA can be used to determine the complete structure of synthetic chiral polymers in solution.     

Raman Optical Activity (ROA) as a New Tool to Elucidate the Helical Structure of Poly(phenylacetylene)s

Poly(phenylacetylene)s are a family of helical polymers constituted by conjugated double bonds. Raman spectra of these polymers show a structural fingerprint of the polyene backbone which, in combination with its helical orientation, makes them good candidates to be studied by Raman optical activity (ROA). Four different well‐known poly(phenylacetylene)s adopting different scaffolds and ten different helical senses have been prepared. Raman and ROA spectra were recorded and allowed to establish ROA‐spectrum/helical‐sense relationships: a left/right‐handed orientation of the polyene backbone (M_helix/P_helix) produces a triplet of positive/negative ROA bands. Raman and ROA spectra of each polymer exhibited the same profile, and the sign of the ROA spectrum was opposite to the lowest‐energy electronic circular dichroism (ECD) band, indicating a resonance effect. Resonance ROA appears then as an indicator of the helical sense of poly(phenylacetylene)s, especially for those with an extra Cotton band in the ECD spectrum, where a wrong helical sense is assigned based on ECD, while ROA alerts of this misassignment.     

Transition polarizability model of induced resonance Raman optical activity

Induced resonance Raman optical activity (IRROA) proved to be a very sensitive method to detect molecular chirality. It is exhibited, for example, by complexes of lanthanides with chiral alcohols or ketones. So far, the phenomenon has not been understood at a quantitative level. To elucidate its mechanisms and to correctly relate the spectra to the structure, a transition polarizability model (TPM) is developed and applied to a camphor‐europium complex. The model well reproduces the high ROA/Raman intensity ratio of the IRROA observed experimentally. The results additionally indicate a fundamental role of the nonchiral fod ligand in the Eu(fod)₃ compound for the chirality enhancement. The TPM model thus serves as a guidance for both experimental and theoretical studies to come. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Transfer and Amplification of Chirality Within the “Ring of Fire” Observed in Resonance Raman Optical Activity Experiments

We report extremely strong chirality transfer from a chiral nickel complex to solvent molecules detected as Raman optical activity (ROA). Electronic energies of the complex were in resonance with the excitation‐laser light. The phenomenon was observed for a wide range of achiral and chiral solvents. For chiral 2‐butanol, the induced ROA was even stronger than the natural one. The observations were related to so‐called quantum (molecular) plasmons that enable a strong chiral Rayleigh scattering of the resonating complex. According to a model presented here, the maximal induced ROA intensity occurs at a certain distance from the solute, in a three‐dimensional “ring of fire”, even after rotational averaging. Most experimental ROA signs and relative intensities could be reproduced. The effect might significantly increase the potential of ROA spectroscopy in bioimaging and sensitive detection of chiral molecules.     

Detection of Circularly Polarized Luminescence of a Cs‐EuIII Complex in Raman Optical Activity Experiments

Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) spectra are extremely sensitive to molecular structure. However, conventional CPL measurements are difficult and require expensive instrumentation. As an alternative, we explore CPL using Raman scattering and Raman optical activity (ROA) spectroscopy. The cesium tetrakis(3‐heptafluoro‐butylryl‐(+)‐camphorato) europium(III) complex was chosen as a model as it is known to exhibit very large CPL dissymmetry ratio. The fluorescent bands could be discriminated from true Raman signals by comparison of spectra acquired with different laser excitation wavelengths. Furthermore, the ROA technique enables fluorescence identification by measuring the degree of circularity. The CPL dissymmetry ratio was measured as the ROA circular intensity difference of 0.71, the largest one ever reported. The alternative CPL measurement enhances applications of lanthanides in analytical chemistry and chemical imaging of biological objects.     

Observation of Paramagnetic Raman Optical Activity of Nitrogen Dioxide

Raman optical activity (ROA) detects the intensity difference between right and left circularly polarized scattered light, and thus brings about enhanced information about the molecules under investigation. The difference is quite small and the technique is mostly constrained to the condensed phase. For NO₂ in the presence of a static magnetic field, however, the ROA signal with high ROA/Raman intensity ratio was observed. The signal is so strong owing to molecular paramagnetism and a pre‐resonance signal enhancement. The spectral shape was explained on the basis of the Fermi golden rule and rotational wave functions expanded to a spherical top basis. The results indicate that the technique can be immediately used to obtain information about molecular properties, such as polarizability components. It also has a potential to detect other paramagnetic gases and discriminate among them.     

Coupled-cluster calculations of vibrational Raman optical activity spectra

We present the first calculations of Raman optical activity spectra at the coupled-cluster level of theory. Calculations are presented for (S)-methyloxirane and compared to recent experimental gas-phase measurements as well as the results obtained at the Hartree-Fock and density functional level of theory using the popular B3LYP functional. For the experimentally relevant frequency region of 400-1600 cm(-1), the Hartree-Fock, B3LYP and coupled-cluster spectra are very similar when the same force field is used, and the results also agree well with experiment. For high-frequency vibrational modes, differences in the ROA difference parameters are observed and are analyzed. The new coupled-cluster ROA code will allow for critical benchmarking of the accuracy of modern exchange-correlation functionals in the calculation of ROA spectra.     

Enantiomeric Discrimination by Surface‐Enhanced Raman Scattering–Chiral Anisotropy of Chiral Nanostructured Gold Films

A surface‐enhanced Raman scattering‐chiral anisotropy (SERS‐ChA) effect is reported that combines chiral discrimination and surface Raman scattering enhancement on chiral nanostructured Au films (CNAFs) equipped in the normal Raman scattering Spectrometer. The CNAFs provided remarkably higher enhancement factors of Raman scattering (EFs) for particular enantiomers, and the SERS intensity was proportional to the enantiomeric excesses (ee) values. Except for molecules with mesomeric species, all of the tested enantiomers exhibited high SERS‐ChA asymmetry factors (g), ranging between 1.34 and 1.99 regardless of polarities, sizes, chromophores, concentrations and ee. The effect might be attributed to selective resonance coupling between the induced electric and magnetic dipoles associated with enantiomers and chiral plasmonic modes of CNAFs.     

Calculation of Raman optical activity spectra of methyl-β-D-glucose incorporating a full molecular dynamics simulation of hydration effects

We report calculations of the Raman and Raman optical activity (ROA) spectra of methyl-β-D-glucose utilizing density functional theory combined with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to provide an explicit hydration environment. This is the first report of such combination of MD simulations with ROA ab initio calculations. We achieve a significant improvement in accuracy over the more commonly used gas phase and polarizable continuum model (PCM) approaches, resulting in an excellent level of agreement with the experimental spectrum. Modeling the ROA spectra of carbohydrates has until now proven a notoriously difficult challenge due to their sensitivity to the effects of hydration on the molecular vibrations involving each of the chiral centers. The details of the ROA spectrum of methyl-β-D-glucose are found to be highly sensitive to solvation effects, and these are correctly predicted for the first time including those originating from the highly sensitive low frequency vibrational modes. This work shows that a thorough consideration of the role of water is pivotal for understanding the vibrational structure of carbohydrates and presents a new and powerful tool for characterizing carbohydrate structure and conformational dynamics in solution.     

Anharmonic effects in IR, Raman, and Raman optical activity spectra of alanine and proline zwitterions

The difference spectroscopy of the Raman optical activity (ROA) provides extended information about molecular structure. However, interpretation of the spectra is based on complex and often inaccurate simulations. Previously, the authors attempted to make the calculations more robust by including the solvent and exploring the role of molecular flexibility for alanine and proline zwitterions. In the current study, they analyze the IR, Raman, and ROA spectra of these molecules with the emphasis on the force field modeling. Vibrational harmonic frequencies obtained with 25 ab initio methods are compared to experimental band positions. The role of anharmonic terms in the potential and intensity tensors is also systematically explored using the vibrational self-consistent field, vibrational configuration interaction (VCI), and degeneracy-corrected perturbation calculations. The harmonic approach appeared satisfactory for most of the lower-wavelength (200-1800 cm(-1)) vibrations. Modern generalized gradient approximation and hybrid density functionals, such as the common B3LYP method, provided a very good statistical agreement with the experiment. Although the inclusion of the anharmonic corrections still did not lead to complete agreement between the simulations and the experiment, occasional enhancements were achieved across the entire region of wave numbers. Not only the transitional frequencies of the C-H stretching modes were significantly improved but also Raman and ROA spectral profiles including N-H and C-H lower-frequency bending modes were more realistic after application of the VCI correction. A limited Boltzmann averaging for the lowest-frequency modes that could not be included directly in the anharmonic calculus provided a realistic inhomogeneous band broadening. The anharmonic parts of the intensity tensors (second dipole and polarizability derivatives) were found less important for the entire spectral profiles than the force field anharmonicities (third and fourth energy derivatives), except for a few weak combination bands which were dominated by the anharmonic tensor contributions.     

Alkali-hydrolysis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">D</Emphasis>-glucono-delta-lactone studied by chiral Raman and circular dichroism spectroscopies

The alkali-hydrolysis of D-glucono-delta-lactone (GDL) was investigated by chiral Raman and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopies in combination with density functional theory calculation. Based on the characteristic CD bands of GDL and its hydrolysis product, the dynamics of hydrolysis was studied using stopped-flow CD method. Using chiral Raman spectroscopy (CRS), the stereochemical change of GDL owing to the hydrolysis reaction was discussed on the vibrational scale. The CRS results show that the ring-opening due to hydrolysis has a great influence on the chiral structure around the carbonyl group, which was evidenced by the disappearance of the CRS band at 1735 cm 1 (C=O stretching vibrational mode). In addition, the change of positions and intensity of CRS bands was also observed, which was ascribed to the perturbation around the C2, C3, C4 and C5 carbons due to ring-opening. It is worthy to note that the stereochemistry of C2, C3, C4 and C5 had no fundamental change during the hydrolysis reaction, which was reflected in the maintenance of the signs of the CRS bands. Our results demonstrate that in comparison with CD technique, CRS may provide more detailed structural information of chiral molecules and open up new vistas of research for chiral reactions. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 20621063, 20773123, and 20673110) and Programme for Strategic Scientific Alliances between China and the Netherlands (Grant No. 2008DFB50130) 1) In some reference, chiral Raman spectroscopy (CRS) is also called Raman optical activity (ROA).     

Two Spectroscopies in One: Interference of Circular Dichroism and Raman Optical Activity

Previously, we and other laboratories have reported an unusual and strong Raman optical activity (ROA) induced in solvents by chiral dyes. Various theories of the phenomenon appeared, but they were not capable of explaining fully the observed ROA band signs and intensities. In this work, an analysis based both on the light scattering theory and dedicated experiments provides a more complete understanding. For example, double-cell magnetic circular dichroism and magnetic ROA experiments with copper-porphyrin complex show that the induced chirality is observed without any contact of the solvents with the complex. The results thus indicate that a combination of electronic circular dichroism (ECD) with the polarized Raman scattering is responsible for the effect. The degree of circularity of solvent vibrational bands is a principal molecular property participating in the event. The insight and the possibility to predict the chirality transfer promise future applications in spectroscopy, chemical analysis and polarized imaging.     

Simulated Raman spectra of four tetraphenylbutadiene polymorphs

We report a combined experimental and theoretical investigation on the Raman spectra of the polymorphs α, β, γ, and δ of 1,1,4,4‐tetraphenyl‐1,3‐butadiene (TPB), in the region of the intramolecular modes. The interpretation of the polarized spectra is supported by ab‐initio calculations for the isolated molecules and by lattice dynamics calculations for the crystals. The calculations reproduce the peculiar, and surprisingly large, differences among the spectra of the various polymorphs. The phenyl groups of 1,1,4,4‐tetraphenyl‐1,3‐butadiene may arrange themselves around the butadiene skeleton in 2 stable conformers, which have either inversion (C_i) or 2‐fold (C₂) symmetry and therefore exhibit intramolecular vibrations with quite different Raman selection rules and spectra. The compound forms 4 crystalline polymorphs (α, β, γ, and δ) with different combinations of C_i and C₂ conformers, and correspondingly different intramolecular spectra. The theoretical calculations provide a quantitative analysis of the various spectra.     

Understanding the Signatures of Secondary‐Structure Elements in Proteins with Raman Optical Activity Spectroscopy

A prerequisite for the understanding of functional molecules like proteins is the elucidation of their structure under reaction conditions. Chiral vibrational spectroscopy is one option for this purpose, but provides only indirect access to this structural information. By first‐principles calculations, we investigate how Raman optical activity (ROA) signals in proteins are generated and how signatures of specific secondary‐structure elements arise. As a first target we focus on helical motifs and consider polypeptides consisting of twenty alanine residues to represent α‐helical and 3₁₀‐helical secondary‐structure elements. Although ROA calculations on such large molecules have not been carried out before, our main goal is the stepwise reconstruction of the ROA signals. By analyzing the calculated ROA spectra in terms of rigorously defined localized vibrations, we investigate in detail how total band intensities and band shapes emerge. We find that the total band intensities can be understood in terms of the reconstructed localized vibrations on individual amino acid residues. Two different basic mechanisms determining the total band intensities can be established, and it is explained how structural changes affect the total band intensities. The band shapes can be rationalized in terms of the coupling between the localized vibrations on different residues, and we show how different band shapes arise as a consequence of different coupling patterns. As a result, it is demonstrated for the chiral variant of Raman spectroscopy how collective vibrations in proteins can be understood in terms of well‐defined localized vibrations. Based on our calculations, we extract characteristic ROA signatures of α helices and of 3₁₀‐helices, which our analysis directly relates to differences in secondary structure.     

Three Types of Induced Tryptophan Optical Activity Compared in Model Dipeptides: Theory and Experiment

The tryptophan (Trp) aromatic residue in chiral matrices often exhibits a large optical activity and thus provides valuable structural information. However, it can also obscure spectral contributions from other peptide parts. To better understand the induced chirality, electronic circular dichroism (ECD), vibrational circular dichroism (VCD), and Raman optical activity (ROA) spectra of Trp‐containing cyclic dipeptides c‐(Trp‐X) (where X=Gly, Ala, Trp, Leu, nLeu, and Pro) are analyzed on the basis of experimental spectra and density functional theory (DFT) computations. The results provide valuable insight into the molecular conformational and spectroscopic behavior of Trp. Whereas the ECD is dominated by Trp π–π* transitions, VCD is dominated by the amide modes, well separated from minor Trp contributions. The ROA signal is the most complex. However, an ROA marker band at 1554 cm^?1 indicates the local χ₂ angle value in this residue, in accordance with previous theoretical predictions. The spectra and computations also indicate that the peptide ring is nonplanar, with a shallow potential so that the nonplanarity is primarily induced by the side chains. Dispersion‐corrected DFT calculations provide better results than plain DFT, but comparison with experiment suggests that they overestimate the stability of the folded conformers. Molecular dynamics simulations and NMR results also confirm a limited accuracy of the dispersion‐DFT model in nonaqueous solvents. Combination of chiral spectroscopies with theoretical analysis thus significantly enhances the information that can be obtained from the induced chirality of the Trp aromatic residue.