A series of 1,1-difluoro-5-(1H-9-purinyl)-2-pentenylphosphonic acids, (E)-2a,b and (Z)-2a,b, as well as the related methano analogues (+/-)-3a,b and (+/-)-4a,b were prepared for evaluation of their PNP inhibitory activities. The cyclopopane ring and the hypoxanthine residue were found to increase the profile of inhibitory activity. The IC50 and K-i values of difluoro({1R*,2S*)-2-[2-(6-oxo-6,9-dihydro-1H-9-purinyl)ethyl]cyclopropyl)methylphosphonic acid (+/-)3b toward PNP purified from Cellulomonas sp. were determined to be 70 nM and 8.8 nM, respectively. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.