Squaric acids: a new motif for designing inhibitors of protein tyrosine phosphatases.

[structure: see text] Protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPases) are important targets in medicinal chemistry. These enzymes play a role in a number of human diseases, including type II diabetes and infection by Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of bubonic plague. Derivatives of squaric acids such as 2-aryl-1-hydroxycyclobut-1-ene-3,4-diones represent a new class of monoanionic inhibitors for PTPases.