New racemic thienamonobactams (21) and (28), designed on the basis of
hybridization between thienamycin (5) and aztreonam (6), were successf
ully synthesized by exploiting the [2+2] cycloaddition reaction of dik
etene with imine (7). Compound (28) exhibited significant inhibitory a
ctivity (ID50 = 37 mu M) against Citrobacter freundii cephalosporinase
.