Optically active 3-amino-3-(tetrahydrofuranyl) carboxylic acid, 3-amino-3-(tetrahydrothienyl) carboxylic acid and their corresponding six membered ring analogues have been synthesised and examined as potential inhibitors of the enzyme S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) synthetase. The kinetic behaviour of these compounds was studied using recombinant rat liver AdoMet synthetase (α-isoform) fractionated from E. coli transformed ...