Studies of various analogs related to the antirhinovirus agent 4\'-ethoxy-2\'-hydroxy-4,6\'-dimethoxychalcone (Chalcone Ro 09-0410) led to the identification of amide analogs that are 4.5 to 10 times more active against human rhinovirus (HRV) in tissue culture as measured by chemotherapeutic indices. Chalcone amides Ro 09-0535, Ro 09-0696 and Ro 09-0881 inhibited viral replication at concentrations as low as less than 2-3 ng/ml and were cytotoxic between 30 to 50 micrograms/ml. These compounds bind to HRV and reduce the virus infectivity titers by 3 log10 or greater at 0.5 micrograms/ml for 60 min similar to Ro 09-0410. These amide analogs competitively inhibited the binding of [3H]Ro 09-0410 to the viral capsid similar to capsid binding antirhinovirus agents, Ro 09-0410, 4\',6-dichloroflavan and WIN-51711. Furthermore, strains of HRV type 2 resistant to each of the above agents showed cross-resistance to all other agents. These results indicate that the chalcone amides also bind to the same or close-proximity site for the capsid binding antirhinovirus agents, which is on the specific site within the viral capsid protein. However, differences in the degree of the inhibition of [3H]Ro 09-0410 binding, cross-resistance of strains of HRV resistant to the agents and HRV serotype specificity were observed not only between the chalcone amides and the other antivirus agents (Ro 09-0410, 4\',6-dichloroflavan and WIN-51711) but also among the chalcone amides, particularly between Ro 09-0535 and Ro 09-0696. These differences are presumably due to alterations in the binding affinities of compounds as a consequence of variations in the shape and size of the hydrophobic pocket that exists between serotypes including resistant strains.