Kadsurenone, a specific receptor antagonist of platelet-activating factor (PAF), and its analogues were prepared from derivatives of cinnamyl alcohol and (ally1oxy) phenol. Racemic kadsurenone, resolvable by a Chiralpak column at low temperatures, has an IC50 value of 2 X lo-'M, which is about 50% of the activity of the natural product (IC50= 1 XM). The structural specificity of kadsurenone was further demonstrated by the low PAF-receptor- ...