Captopril, 1-[(2S)-3-mercapto-2-methyl-1-oxopropionyl]proline (Capoten), blocks the conversion of angiotensinI to angiotensin II by inhibiting the convertingenzyme. The rational development of captopril as an inhibitorof ACE was based on the hypothesis that ACE and carboxypeptidaseA functioned by similar mechanisms. It wasnoted that d-2-benzylsuccinic acid was a potent inhibitor ofcarboxypeptidase A, but not ACE. By use of this small molecule as a prototype, captopril was designed with a carboxylgroup on a proline and a thiol group was introduced toenhance the binding to the zinc ion of ACE. The importantbinding points at the active site of ACE are thought to be anarginine residue, which provides a cationic site that attracts acarboxylate ion, and a zinc ion, which can polarize a carbonylgroup of an amide function to make it more susceptible to hydrolysis.Hydrophobic pockets lie between these groups in theactive site, as does a functional group that forms a hydrogenbond with an amide carbonyl.
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