Beta-Lactams and Beta-Lactones both Include a Small, Highly Strained Ring (IMAGE)

Washington University in St. Louis

Beta-Lactams and Beta-Lactones both Include a Small, Highly Strained Ring

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The beta-lactam ring couples three carbons and a nitrogen, whereas the beta-lactone ring consists of three carbons and an oxygen. "They're essentially iso-electron; they look and smell the same," Wencewicz said. "But oxygen is different from nitrogen, and so they have a different palette of bioactivities and inhibit a different set of target enzymes."

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Wencewicz

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