There are provided derivatives having PPAR agonist activity. The derivatives include compounds and/or their pharmaceutically acceptable salts; the compounds having the formula (I) wherein A has the structure (II) or (III); X is chosen from —CH
2
—, —O—, —NH—, and —S—; Y is chosen from —O—, —NH—, and —S—; Z, which may be located in any position of substitution, is hydrogen or halogen; R
1
and R
2
, which may be the same or different, are independently chosen from hydrogen and C
1
-C
8
alkyl, or R
1
and R
2
together form a carbocyclic ring having from 4 to 6 carbon atoms; R
3
is chosen from hydrogen and C
1
-C
8
alkyl; R
4
, R
5
, and R
6
, which may be the same or different, are independently chosen from hydrogen and C
1
-C
8
alkyl; and n is 1 to 6. Various embodiments and variants are provided. In accordance with other aspects, the invention also provides methods of producing a PPARα agonist activity in a mammal, the methods including administering to the mammal an effective amount of certain derivative(s) of the first aspect of the invention, a method of producing a PPARα agonist activity and a PPARα agonist activity in a mammal, the method including administering to the mammal an effective amount of certain derivative(s); and a pharmaceutical composition that includes the derivative(s) of the first aspect of the invention and one or more pharmaceutically-acceptable excipients. Various embodiments and variants are provided.