Phonon dispersion and specific heat in ω-helical poly-N ∊(p-bromobenzoyl-l-ornithine)

Abstract Poly-N ∊(p-bromobenzoyl-l-ornithine) (PBrBO) is one of the few biopolymers existing in the rare ω-helical (fourfold) conformation. It can be obtained from the α form through an irreversible heat treatment. A study of its normal modes and dispersive behavior shows several interesting features such as “crossing over,” “repulsion with character exchange,” and Von Hove type “singularities” which lead to a fuller interpretation of its IR spectra. The existence of alternately different side-chain conformations, which makes the phonon problem too large to solve directly, has been taken into account by considering the vibrations of the PBrBO chains with two independent conformations. Detailed study of skeletal, amide, and side-chain modes is reported, and the results have been used for the calculation of specific heat via density of states.