New compounds were designed to fully inhibit the in vitro metabolism of enkephalins, ensured by three different metallopeptidases. For this purpose, bidentate ligands as hydroxamate and N-hydroxy-N-formylamino groups were selected as highly potent metal coordinating agents and introduced on Phe-Gly and Phe-Ala related structures. Compounds corresponding to the general formula HC(O)N(OH)CH2CH(CH2Ph)CONHCH2COOH (compound 7) and HN(OH)C(O)CH2CH(CH2Ph)CONHCH(R)COOH (compound 11, R = H; compound 13, R = CH3) behave as full inhibitors of the three enzymes, with IC50's in the nanomolar range for enkephalinase, from 0.3 microM to 1 nM for dipeptidylaminopeptidase, and in the micromolar range for a biologically relevant aminopeptidase. Two diastereoisomers of the most active inhibitor 13 were separated by HPLC and their stereochemistry was assigned by 1H NMR spectroscopy. Both isomers were efficient as enkephalinase blockers, but only the RS isomer, designated kelatorphan, was able to strongly inhibit aminopeptidase and dipeptidylaminopeptidase. Intracerebroventricular injection in mice of these mixed inhibitors, especially kelatorphan, led to naloxone reversible analgesic responses (hot-plate test) that were slightly better than those produced by a mixture of thiorphan and bestatin, two potent inhibitors of enkephalinase and aminopeptidase, respectively. Kelatorphan was also more efficient in potentiating the analgesia induced by a subanalgesic dose of Met-enkephalin. All these results support a physiological role in pain transmission for enkephalinase and a probably synaptic aminopeptidase M.