Very potent inhibitors were synthesized for the enzymatic deacetylation of N-acetyl-d-glucosamine-6-phosphate (NagA) and N-acetyl-d-glutamate (DGD). The methyl phosphonamidate derivative of d-glucosamine-6-phosphate bound to N-acetyl-d-glucosamine-6-phosphate deacetylase with an equilibrium dissociation constant of 34 +/- 5 nM at pH 7.5 and an association rate constant of 6.1 x 103 M-1 s-1. The inhibition constant is 4000-fold lower than the Michaelis constant for the substrate N-acetyl-d-glucosamine-6-phosphate. N-Acetyl-d-glutamate deacetylase was inhibited by the methyl phosphonamidate derivative of d-glutamate with an inhibition constant of 460 +/- 70 pM at pH 7.6. The inhibitor bound to the enzyme 500 000-fold tighter than the Michaelis constant for N-formyl-d-glutamate. These compounds mimic the putative tetrahedral intermediate formed upon nucleophilic attack of an activated water molecule on the amide bond of the target substrate. These inhibitors should prove useful in the elucidation of the enzyme-substrate interactions for enzymes within the amidohydrolase superfamily.