2-Mercaptobenzoxazoles: a class of carbonic anhydrase inhibitors with a novel binding mode to the enzyme active site.

2-Mercaptobenzoxazole is a widely used organic scaffold in medicinal chemistry. By means of kinetic and structural studies, we demonstrate that this molecule can effectively be used to inhibit hCAs showing a peculiar binding mode. The results reported here can pave the way for the development of selective CA inhibitors.