are both highly potent and selective for β-glycosidases. Designed on the basis of the transition-state model of the β-glucosidase reaction, these iminosugar inhibitors differ from the currently available inhibitors in possessing a nitrogen atom at the anomeric position of the pyranose ring, thereby generating a positive charge on the anomeric position rather than on the ring oxygen of the sugar. Their
A new galactose-type iminosugar in which a nitrogen atom is in the anomeric position was synthesized and was found to be an extremely potent inhibitor for beta-galactosidase with Ki = 4 nM.