Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors belong to a new class of potential anticancer agents. It may be possible to reduce some of the toxicity by specifically targeting only the HDAC isoform. Here, stereoisomeric HDAC inhibitors containing fluoroalkene were analyzed for their specificity toward HDAC isoforms. Z-Form 1(Z) showed high affinity to HDACs whereas E-isoform 1(E) had lower affinity to HDAC1 and HDAC4. These data suggested that introduction of alkene with E/Z configuration to HDAC inhibitor can be a new strategy to develop the isoform-selective HDAC inhibitors.Histone deacetylases (HDACs) have crucial roles in numerous biological processes. There are eighteen encoded human HDACs, which are classified as class I (HDAC1, -2, -3, and -8), class II (HDAC4, -5, -6, -7, -9, and -10), class III (SIRT1-7), and class IV (HDAC11) enzymes. Recent studies of knockout mice lacking HDAC genes have revealed highly specific functions for individual HDAC isoforms.1 These facts emphasize the importance of developing HDAC-isoform specific inhibitors.A number of HDAC inhibitors have been reported to date, and they were used as anticancer drugs and reagents for serial animal cloning without clone-specific abnormalities.2,3 HDAC inhibitors, including SAHA, typically consist of a zinc-binding group that coordinates to the catalytic metal atom within the HDAC active site, a linker that accommodates the tubular access of the active site, and a capping group that interacts with the residues at the entrance of the active site. It is very important to have moieties to enhance isoform selectivity to reduce side effects. Replacement of hydroxamic acid as the zinc-binding group has been carried out to produce new types of HDAC isozyme-selective inhibitors.2 Recently, we developed HDAC inhibitors containing a sulfanylmethyl group attached with fluoroalkene. As the fluoroalkene is known for nonhydrolyzable amide mimetic, it is stable with respect to hydrolytic cleavage. 4 The thiol group may interact with zinc ion in a chelating manner 5 (Figure 1). The Z-isomer 1(Z) compound showed the stronger general HDAC inhibitory activity using HeLa extract than SAHA. 6 Here, we designed and synthesized the stereoisomer, E-isomer 1(E) to control the special configuration of thiol group. The effects of E-and Z-isomers on HDAC inhibitory activity and selectivity were analyzed against various HDAC-isoforms.The synthesis of 1(E) is outlined in Scheme 1. As outlined in Scheme 1, synthesis of the complementary 1(E) was started from bromide A, which was used for preparation of Z-isomer.