ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how the authors have modified the structure of retinoic acid and what the consequences are. The structure of retinoic acid was greatly altered to obtain a new series of active benzoic acid derivatives. The chapter discusses the structure-activity relationships. It proposes the generic name retinobenzoic acid for the active compounds represented by the formula and for related benzoic acid derivatives. The activity of 3',4'-diisopropylazobenzene-4-carboxylic acid was as high as that of retinoic acid, and the tetramethyltetrahydronaphthalene derivative was more active than retinoic acid. The structural effect of the alkyl group on the aromatic ring was similar to that in the cases of amides, azo compounds, and stilbenes. Though the stable conformation of chalcones is believed to be s-cis, which is very different from that of the rigid flavones, flavones and chalcones appeared to be structurally related compounds.
