A novel and robust scaffold for highly active PPARalpha agonists based on the 2-mercaptohexanoic acid substructure is presented. Systematic structural variation of the substitution pattern of the phenolic backbone yielded detailed SAR especially of ortho and meta substituents. We corroborated the importance of the sulfur atom as well as of the n-butyl chain for PPARalpha activity in the 2-mercaptohexanoic acid head group by preparation of carbon analogs and alpha-unsubstituted derivatives. Compound 10 represents a low nano molar active PPARalpha activator with excellent selectivity towards PPARgamma.