(S)-Thiirancarboxylic acid as a reactive building block for a new class of cysteine protease inhibitors.

For (S)-thiirancarboxylic acid a second-order rate constant of k2nd = 222 M(-1) min(-1) for the irreversible inhibition of papain was determined. The ethyl and methyl ester do not inhibit the enzyme time-dependently. An improved synthesis of enantiomerically pure thiirancarboxylic acid is described. It is shown that thiirancarboxylates can be substrates for serine proteases (alpha-chymotrypsin) and esterases (pig liver esterase) and even for metallo proteases (thermolysin).