A series of novel thioether derivatives containing 1,3,4-oxadiazole/thiadiazole and emodin moieties were designed and synthesized. The structures of the target compounds were confirmed by H-1 NMR, C-13 NMR, Infrared, and elemental analysis. The results of bioactivity analysis showed that most of the target compounds exhibited moderate to good antiviral activity against tobacco mosaic virus at a concentration of 500mg/L. Especially, among the title compounds, Y2, Y8, and Y10 possessed appreciable curative activity in vivo, with inhibition rates of 50.51, 52.08, and 54.62%, respectively, which were similar to that of Ningnanmycin (53.40%).