A series of SAHA cap derivatives was designed and prepared in good-to-excellent yields that varied from 49% to 95%. These derivatives were evaluated for their antiproliferative activity in several human cancer cell lines. Antiproliferative activity was observed for concentrations varying from 0.12 to >100 microM, and a molecular modeling approach of selected SAHA derivatives, based on available structural information of human HDAC8 in complex with SAHA, was performed. Strikingly, two compounds displayed up to 10-fold improved antileukemic activity with respect to SAHA; however, these compounds displayed antiproliferative activity similar to SAHA when assayed against solid tumor-derived cell lines. A 10-fold improvement in the leukemic vs peripheral blood mononuclear cell therapeutic ratio, with no evident in vivo toxicity toward blood cells, was also observed. The herein-described compounds and method of synthesis will provide invaluable tools to investigate the molecular mechanism responsible for the reported selectively improved antileukemic activity.