Inhibition of Chitin Synthetase fromSaccharomyces cerevisiaeby a New UDP-GlcNAc Analogue

Abstract
The synthesis and biological evaluation of a new UDP-GlcNAc competitor (I), designed to mimic the transition state of the sugar donor in the enzymatic reaction catalysed by chitin synthetase, is described. Compound (I) was found to competitively inhibit chitin synthetase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae with respect to UDP-GlcNAc, but displayed minimal antifungal activity.