Raman optical activity of an achiral element in a chiral environment

Raman optical activity (ROA) is a relatively new technique used to determine the structure of chiral molecules and is proving useful in the study of biological molecules such as proteins and DNA/RNA. Here, for the first time, we demonstrate the applicability of ROA as a technique to study achiral groups in chiral environments, detecting the induced chirality of N-(fluorenyl-9-methoxycarbonyl) (Fmoc) in a chiral self-assembled structure of Fmoc-dipeptides. This technique is therefore of interest to those studying self-assembled systems that adopt a chiral structure. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.