Abstract Propanal thiosemicarbazone (1a) showed activity in preventing anaphylactic shock in a mouse test-system; it also had some activity in stunting the growth of Botrytis allii. Hexanal thiosemicarbazone (1b) was active in the Botrytis allii test-system, and citral thiosemicarbazone (2) and citral guanylhydrazone nitrate (3) showed some activity in the same test-system. Heptanal guanylhydrazone nitrate (4) had some antibacterial activity ...