the combination of amoxicillin and clavulanic acid into the drug known as augmentin is widely used as an antibacterial agent. the purpose of amoxicillin in this drug is to target , which catalyzes crosslinking of peptidoglycan, and the purpose of clavulanic acid in this drug is to target , which normally would inactivate the amoxicillin. both of these compounds act as inhibitors of enzyme function.