These tight-binding inhibitors may show kinetics similar to covalent irreversible inhibitors. In these cases some of these inhibitors rapidly bind to the enzyme in a low-affinity EI complex and this then undergoes a slower rearrangement to a very tightly bound EI* complex (see the "irreversible inhibition mechanism" diagram).
These tight-binding inhibitors may exhibit kinetics comparable to those of covalent irreversible inhibitors. In such instances, these inhibitors rapidly form a low-affinity EI complex with the enzyme and then undergo a slower transformation into a highly stable EI* complex (as illustrated in the "irreversible inhibition mechanism" diagram).