The class C serine β-lactamase of Enterobacter cloacae P99 is irreversibly inhibited by Oaryloxycarbonyl hydroxamates. A series of these new inhibitors has been prepared to investigate the kinetics and mechanism of the inactivation reaction. A pH-rate profile for the reaction indicated that the reactive form of the inhibitor is neutral rather than anionic. The reaction rate is enhanced by electron-withdrawing aryloxy substituents and by hydrophobic substitution on both aryloxy and hydroxamate groups. Kinetics studies show that the rates of loss of the two possible leaving groups, aryloxide and hydroxamate are essentially the same as the rate of enzyme inactivation. Nucleophilic trapping experiments prove, however, that the aryloxide is the first to leave. It is likely, therefore, that the rate-determining step of inactivation is the initial acylation reaction, most likely of the active site serine, yielding a hydroxamoyl-enzyme intermediate. This then partitions between hydrolysis and aminolysis by Lys 315, the latter to form an inactive, cross-linked active site. A previously described crystal structure of the inactivated enzyme shows a carbamate cross-link of Ser 64 and Lys 315. Structure-activity studies of the reported compounds suggest that they do not react at the enzyme active site in the same way as normal substrates. In particular, it appears that the initial acylation by these compounds does not involve the oxyanion hole, an unprecedented departure from known and presumed reactivity. Molecular modeling suggests that an alternative oxyanion hole may have been recruited, consisting of the side chain functional groups of Tyr 150 and Lys 315. Such an alternative mode of reaction may lead to the design of novel inhibitors.For decades now, β-lactams have been one of our most effective weapons against bacterial infections (1). These drugs, although still the first line of attack in many clinical situations, have been compromised to a considerable degree by bacterial resistance to them (2). Among various sources of resistance that have arisen in bacteria, the most generally troublesome is the production of β-lactamases. These enzymes very effectively catalyze the hydrolysis and thus destruction of β-lactams before they can reach their cellular targets (3).The threat posed by β-lactamases to the efficacy of β-lactam antibiotics has been tackled by pharmaceutical companies in several ways. One approach that has been quite successful to date is that of including a β-lactamase inhibitor with a β-lactam antibiotic in combination therapies. For many years now, such combinations, using the now-classical β-lactamase inhibitors clavulanic acid, sulbactam and tazobactam, have been used to advantage (4). Since these inhibitors are themselves β-lactams, however, it is perhaps not surprising to find that certain β-lactamase mutants are capable of hydrolyzing them quite effectively. Such mutants have †

The UV-Vis and fluorescence spectra of free base and diprotonated meso-tetrathien-2'-ylporphyrins are, when compared to the spectra of meso-tetra-phenyl- or even -thien-3'-ylporphyrins, characterized by surprisingly large red-shifts. A comparison of the optical spectra and the computed rotational barriers for these meso-aryl-substituted porphyrins and a detailed conformational analysis of the single crystal X-ray structure of a diprotonated meso-tetrathien-2'-ylporphyrin suggest that the origin of the altered electronic properties of meso-tetrathien-2'-ylporphyrins are mainly due to the contribution of conformations in which the thienyl groups adopt idealized co-planar arrangements with the porphyrin ring. These conformations allow an efficient extension of the porphyrinic pi-system through conjugation. We synthesized a meso-tetrathien-2'-ylporphyrin with methyl groups in the o-position, thus preventing the formation of conformers with co-planar thienyl groups and a corresponding thien-2'-ylporphyrin with methyl substituents in a distal position that possesses the same steric requirements for thienyl group rotation as the parent compound, to conclusively deduce the influence of the conformers on the electronic structure. A MNDO-PSDCI computation of their optical spectra further supports our key hypothesis. DFT computations of the total energies of the hypothetical diprotonated thien-2'-ylporphyrin conformer with perpendicular thienyl groups and the conformer containing near-co-planar thienyl groups quantify the resonance stabilization energy. Our results support and complement recent photophysical and theoretical studies by Gupta and Ravikanth and Friedlein et al. on thien-2'-yl-substituted core-modified porphyrins and [meso-tetra(5'-bromothien-2'-yl)porphyrinato]Zn(ii), respectively.

O-Aryloxycarbonyl hydroxamates represent a new class of β-lactamase inhibitors. N-Benzyloxycarbonyl-O-(phenoxycarbonyl) hydroxylamine, for example, inactivates the class C Enterobacter cloacae P99 β-lactamase with a rate constant of 6.1 × 103 s-1 M-1; approximately two turnover events accompany the inhibition. N-Benzyloxycarbonyl-O-[(3-carboxyphenoxy)carbonyl] hydroxylamine is comparably effective. These compounds also inactivate the class A TEM β-lactamase. A crystal structure of the inactivated AmpC enzyme, another class C β-lactamase, reveals that the active site has become cross-linked by a carbamate bridge spanning Ser64, the active site nucleophile, and Lys315, a conserved active site residue.

C40H30N4S4, triclinic, P1̅ (no. 2), a = 6.5126(7) Å, b = 10.499(1) Å, c = 12.635(1) Å, α = 87.818(2)°, β = 79.141(2)°, γ = 86.737(2)°, V = 846.7 Å3, Z = 1, Rgt(F) = 0.057, wRref(F2) = 0.150, T = 100 K.