A new class of nonpeptidic inhibitors of the Zn II -dependent metalloprotease neprilysin with IC 50 values in the nanomolar activity range (0.034 ± 0.30 mm) were developed based on structure-based de novo design (Figs. 1 and 2). The inhibitors feature benzimidazole and imidazo [4,5-c]pyridine moieties as central scaffolds to undergo H-bonding to Asn542 and Arg717 and to engage in favorable p-p stacking interactions with the imidazole ring of His711. The platform is decorated with a thiol vector to coordinate to the Zn II ion and an aryl residue to occupy the hydrophobic S1' pocket, but lack a substituent for binding in the S2' pocket, which remains closed by the side chains of Phe106 and Arg110 when not occupied. The enantioselective syntheses of the active compounds ()-1, ()-2, ()-25, and ()-26 were accomplished using Evans auxiliaries (Schemes 2, 4, and 5). The inhibitors ()-2 and ()-26 with an imidazo[4,5-c]pyridine core are ca. 8 times more active than those with a benzimidazole core (()-1 and ()-25) ( Table 1). The predicted binding mode was established by X-ray analysis of the complex of neprilysin with ()-2 at 2.25-resolution (Fig. 4 and Table 2). The ligand coordinates with its sulfanyl residue to the Zn II ion, and the benzyl residue occupies the S1' pocket. The 1H-imidazole moiety of the central scaffold forms the required H-bonds to the side chains of Asn542 and Arg717. The heterobicyclic platform additionally undergoes p-p stacking with the side chain of His711 as well as edge-to-face-type interactions with the side chain of Trp693. According to the X-ray analysis, the substantial advantage in biological activity of the imidazopyridine inhibitors over the benzimidazole ligands arises from favorable interactions of the pyridine N-atom in the former with the side chain of Arg102. Unexpectedly, replacement of the phenyl group pointing into the deep S1' pocket by a biphenyl group does not enhance the binding affinity for this class of inhibitors.1. Introduction. ± In the preceding paper [1], we described a new class of inhibitors of the metalloprotease neprilysin with a central 1H-imidazole platform, featuring IC 50 values (IC 50 : concentration of inhibitor at which 50% V max is observed) in the low micromolar range. The de novo design of these compounds was based on the X-ray crystal structure of NEP complexed with phosphoramidon (Protein Data Bank (PDB) file name 1DMT) [2]. For the design of the second-generation inhibitors, we reverted to an unpublished X-ray crystal structure [3] of NEP complexed with the inhibitor thiorphan [4]. During the analysis, we carefully compared the active sites of the two