Metal‐Complexes Biomimetic of Metallo‐β‐Lactamases

Metallo‐β‐lactamases (MβLs) are bacterial Zn 2+ dependent enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis inactivating β‐lactam antibiotics. Understanding their mechanism is crucial for developing more potent antibiotics and for designing inhibitors of MβLs paving the way for more effective treatments. To this end, numerous Zn 2+ complexes that mimic MβLs have been synthesized and studied, leading to the conclusion that often a hydroxyl group coordinated to Zn 2+ is responsible for the hydrolysis of substrates. In parallel, research on MβLs has highlighted the importance of the coordination of the substrate to Zn 2+ and the involvement of the reactive hydroxyl group or of a water molecule in hydrogen bonding to facilitate the hydrolysis. The development of more suitable biomimetic complexes of MβL, which replicate these enzymatic features, can become crucial for obtaining deeper and more accurate mechanistic insights.