“…In general, this involves the covalent modification of an active site residue that is not subsequently and readily regenerated. For example, many inhibitors are acylating, phosphylating, or sulfylating agents of the active site serine residue of serine proteases. The mechanism of these processes involves, in the case of acylation, the displacement of a leaving group, Lg, from the acylating agent:
The structure of the acylenzyme is such that the regeneration of the enzyme by its further reaction with nucleophiles, such as water, is a relatively slow process, and this leads to effective inhibition.…”