A direct binding screen of 100鈥?00 sp3-rich molecules identified a single diastereomer of a macrolactam core that binds specifically to myeloid cell leukemia 1 (MCL1). A comprehensive toolbox of biophysical methods was applied to validate the original hit and subsequent analogues and also established a binding mode competitive with NOXA BH3 peptide. X-ray crystallography of ligand bound to MCL1 reveals a remarkable ligand/protein shape complementarity that diverges from previously disclosed MCL1 inhibitor costructures. <h4>Keywords: h4> MCL1; myeloid cell leukemia 1; sp3-rich; biophysical validation