Computing quantitative chirality from the root mean square method.

It is shown how the root mean square chiral index is computed without enume rating all the permutations of a set of n atoms. As an example, the quantit ative measure of chirality is achieved for various helicene derivatives. It is also shown that the chiral index of a protein backbone is computable wi thout enumeration. (C) Academie des sciences/Elsevier, Paris.