Studies on dehydrogenase enzyme inhibition have been extended with the design, synthesis, and correlation analysis of 7-[(substituted-benzyl)oxy]-, 7-[(substituted-phenethyl)oxy]-, and 7([substituted-phenoxy)ethoxy]-4-hydroxyquinoline-3-carboxylic acids. Sixteen new congeners and the fifteen molecules previously synthesized have been tested against cytoplasmic malate dehydrogenase and lactate dehydrogenase, as well as against mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase. The lipophilic congeners show a clear specificity for inhibition of the mitochondrial enzyme. Correlation analysis of the data on the three enzymes allows a comparison of the binding sites in quantitative terms, while examination of the data on inhibition of ascites tumor cell respiration affords an indication of membrane transport. A newly developed high-pressure liquid chromatography based retention index is compared to the octanol-water pi constant as a model for hydrophobic interactions.