Raman and Raman optical activity (ROA) spectra of poly-L-proline were recorded in a wide frequency range and analyzed with respect to the proline side chain conformation. The analysis was based on comparison to ab initio simulations of spectral band positions and intensities. The presence of two conformer states of the five-member ring was found, approximately equally populated in the polypeptide. Additionally, Raman and ROA spectral shapes indicated that the peptide adopts the polyproline II helical conformation, in both aqueous and TFE solutions. The helix, however, is perturbed by fluctuations, which affects the vibrational coupling among amino acid residues and broadens the ROA bands. Contributions of the side and main peptide chains to the polyproline ROA intensities have comparable magnitudes. Thus understanding of the origins of both signals is important for determination of the peptide structure by ROA.
