Helix sense of copoly(ethyl-l-aspartate-benzyl-l-aspartate)

Copoly(ethyl-L-aspartate-benzyl-L-aspartate)s with various compositions were prepared by ethylation of poly (β-benzyl-L-aspartate). Helix sense of copolyaspartates in chloroform solution was examined by optical rotatory dispersion and circular dichroism methods as a function of a degree of ethylation and temperature. Copolyaspartates of ethylation less than 35% exhibited the same left handed helix as that of poly (β-benzyl-L-aspartate), while copolymer of ethylation more than 70% assumed the right handed α-helical conformation like poly (β-ethyl-L-aspartate). Copolymers with the intermediate ethyl content of 35–70% indicated the reversal in helix sense from a right handed to a left handed helix with increasing temperature from ?20° to 60°C. The transition of reversal was reversibly observed and transition temperature rose with the increase of ethylation. In these intermediate copolymers, the mechanism of the reversal in helix sense was examined by circular dichroism and dielectric measurements. Three possibilities were postulated here for the conformation which should arise at the transition temperature of the reversal; First is the random conformation, second is the equimolar mixture of left and right handed α-helices in a chain, and the third is the equimolar mixture of left and right handed α helix chains. No observational circular dichroism spectra characteristic to random coil conformation and no remarkable change in residue dipole moment strongly suggested the third possibility.