1, 5-naphthalene disulfonate derivative 1b

1,5-naphthalene disulfonate derivative 1 was designed to elicit a pocket of appropriate size and charge for binding 2 and stabilizing transition state 3. The sulfonate groups were included to elicit cationic counterions for the anionic species along the reaction coordinate, while the naphthalene ring was expected to induce a proximal hydrophobic region for binding the aromatic portions of substrate and transition state.