Suitably configured allyl ethers of unsaturated cyclitols act as substrates of β‐glycosidases, reacting via allylic cation transition states. Incorporation of halogens at the vinylic position of these carbasugars, along with an activated leaving group, generates potent inactivators of β‐glycosidases. Enzymatic turnover of these halogenated cyclitols (F, Cl, Br) displayed a counter‐intuitive trend wherein the most electronegative substituents yielded the most labile pseudo‐glycosidic linkages. Structures of complexes with the Sulfolobus β‐glucosidase revealed similar enzyme‐ligand interactions to those seen in complexes with a 2‐fluorosugar inhibitor, the lone exception being displacement of tyrosine 322 from the active site by the halogen. Mutation of Y322 to Y322F largely abolished glycosidase activity, consistent with lost interactions at O5, but minimally affected (7‐fold) rates of carbasugar hydrolysis, yielding a more selective enzyme for unsaturated cyclitol ether hydrolysis.

Suitably configured allyl ethers of unsaturated cyclitols act as substrates of β‐glycosidases, reacting via allylic cation transition states. Incorporation of halogens at the vinylic position of these carbasugars, along with an activated leaving group, generates potent inactivators of β‐glycosidases. Enzymatic turnover of these halogenated cyclitols (F, Cl, Br) displayed a counter‐intuitive trend wherein the most electronegative substituents yielded the most labile pseudo‐glycosidic linkages. Structures of complexes with the Sulfolobus β‐glucosidase revealed similar enzyme‐ligand interactions to those seen in complexes with a 2‐fluorosugar inhibitor, the lone exception being displacement of tyrosine 322 from the active site by the halogen. Mutation of Y322 to Y322F largely abolished glycosidase activity, consistent with lost interactions at O5, but minimally affected (7‐fold) rates of carbasugar hydrolysis, yielding a more selective enzyme for unsaturated cyclitol ether hydrolysis.