Deacetylation of uridyldiphospho-3-O-(R-hydroxydecanoyl)-N-acetylglucosamine by LpxC is the first committed step in the Pseudomonas aeruginosa biosynthetic pathway to lipid A; homologous enzymes are found widely among Gram-negative bacteria. As an essential enzyme for which no inhibitors have yet been reported, the P. aeruginosa LpxC represents a highly attractive target for a novel antibacterial drug. We synthesized several focused ...