This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues.Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. Binding Proteins (PBPs), we focused on the synthesis of 1,3-bridged 2-azetidinones by RCM reaction from 1,3-bis-u-alkenoyl-3(S)-amino-2-azetidinone precursors. Submitting the precursors to RCM, we faced an unexpected problem: cyclodimerization was the preferred outcome. This peculiar reactivity, explained by a computational study, led to unprecedented bis-azetidinyl-macrocycles acting as potent inhibitors of R39 D,D-carboxypeptidase, a bacterial model enzyme for PBPs.