A series of eight non-peptidic potential renin inhibitors have been designed and synthesized. All of them contain dipeptide replacement: (3S,4S)-4-amino-5-cyclohexyl-3-hydroxypentanoic acid (ACHPA) in their molecules. Four among them comprise two additional analogs of dipeptide: (3S,4S)-4-amino-3-hydroxy-5-phenylpentanoic acid (AHPPA) and (3S,4S)-4-amino-3-hydroxy-6-methylheptanoic acid (statine, Sta). All of the synthesized compounds contain also hydrophobic portions to receive a moderate lipophilicity of the molecules. Inhibitory activity of the compounds was measured in vitro by I-IPLC determination of Leu-Val-Tyr-Ser released from the N-acetyltetradecapeptide substrate by renin in the presence of the inhibitor. Asp-alpha(OEt)-(S,S)-ACHPA-epsilonAhx-Iaa (23) shows inhibitory activity (7%) at the concentration of 1.0 x 10(-2) M. The other synthesized compounds show no inhibitory activity up to this concentration.