Inhibition of protein biosynthesis: The first active sparsomycin analog

A (dl) $\text{S}$-deoxo-$\text{S}$-propyl sparsomycin analog has been prepared and examined as an inhibitor of the peptidyl transferase reaction with bacterial ribosomes. A double reciprocal plot and Dixon analysis indicate that the sparsomycin analogy is a competitive inhibitor of phenylalanyl-puromycin formation. The inactivity of the L-isomer has established that the chiral carbon of sparsomycin analogs must be identical with the chirality of D-cysteinol for ribosomal binding.