A number of RA-VII derivatives having various amino acids including proline (6), pipecolic acid (11), norvaline (12), ornithine (14), aspartic acid (15) and methionine (20) in place of Ala2 have been synthesized from RA-X methyl ester (3) and evaluated for cytotoxicity to P388 leukemia and KB cells in vitro. Comparison of the cytotoxicity of these compounds suggests that the polarity and the length