Discovery of piperazic acid peptide deformylase inhibitors with in vivo activity for respiratory tract and skin infections.

The discovery of a novel series of peptide deformylase inhibitors incorporating a piperazic acid amino acid found in nature is described. These compounds demonstrated potent in vitro enzymatic potency and antimicrobial activity. Crystal structure analysis revealed the piperazic acid optimized a key contact with the PDF protein that accounted for the increased enzymatic potency of these compounds.