The bicyclic diacid 1 was designed as a semi-rigid template for the hydrogen-bonding pattern of a peptide R-helix. The protected precursor 7 was synthesized in eight steps from tert-butyl 3,5-dimethoxybenzoate and linked to L-alanine and L-lactic acid to provide derivatives appropriate for coupling to a peptide. Both the amide 8-N and the ester 12-O were obtained in each of the four diastereomeric forms. The structure of R,R-8-N was determined by X-ray crystallography, which facilitated assignment of the diastereomers and confirmed the intended conformational effects of the quaternary methyl groups. The bicyclic amide and ester derivatives were appended to the peptide EALAKA-NH 2 , and their influence on the conformation was evaluated in aqueous solution using circular dichroism and NMR. The amide analogs have only a slight effect on the appended peptide, whereas the ester-linked template in S,S-9-O induces 32-50% helical character at 23°C and 49-77% at 0°C, depending on the method of determination; significant helical character persists even at 70°C. The ability of the template 1 to induce the helical conformation is related to its structural and electronic complementarity to the N-terminus of the peptide; templating ability disappears when the carboxylate in S,S-9-O is protonated, and it is not observed in the dimethylamide S,S-9-N-a. The structural and dynamical properties of conjugate S,S-9-O were studied by NMR and compared with those of the acetylated heptapeptide 13. The dispersion and temperature dependence of amide hydrogen chemical shifts and the pattern observed for intra-and inter-residue nuclear Overhauser enhancements are all consistent with a significant population of helical conformers within the conformational ensemble of conjugate S,S-9-O, in contrast to the unstructured peptide 13. The generalized order parameter S 2 was derived for each residue from the 15 N T 1 and T 2 relaxation rate constants and 1 H-15 N heteronuclear NOEs determined for the 15 N-labeled derivative of S,S-9-O; these parameters demonstrate a high degree of conformational rigidity along the peptide chain at 4°C, with relative motion increasing for the C-terminal residues. These data are consistent with the chiroptical studies and demonstrate that the template is exceptionally effective in inducing helical behavior in an appended peptide.