β‐Lactones as Privileged Structures for the Active‐Site Labeling of Versatile Bacterial Enzyme Classes

A chemical proteomic strategy has been applied directly to bacterial proteomes, and β-lactones have been identified as important natural product derivatives with a high affinity to various enzyme classes (see picture). This approach may serve as a potent tool for the identification of novel antibacterial targets, the study of their function, and the definition of novel lead structures for the design of enzyme inhibitors.