Sulfides, sulfoxides and sulfones disubstituted with a tetrahydronaphthalenyl, chromanyl, thiochromanyl or tetrahydroquinolinyl and substituted phenyl or heteroaryl group, having retinoid-like biological activity

A compound of the formula ##STR6## wherein X is n where n is an integer between 0 and 2;

• R.sub.1 is independently H or alkyl of 1 to 6 carbons;
• R.sub.2 is hydrogen, lower alkyl of 1 to 6 carbons, F, Cl, Br, I, fluoro substituted alkyl of 1 to 6 carbons, OH, SH, alkoxy of 1 to 6 carbons, or alkylthio of 1 to 6 carbons;
• R.sub.3 is hydrogen, lower alkyl of 1 to 6 carbons or F;
• m is an integer having the value of 0-3;
• o is an integer having the value of 0-4;
• p is an integer having the value of 0-2;
• Y is heteroaryl selected from a group consisting of pyridazinyl, pyrimidinyl, pyrazinyl, thiazolyl, oxazolyl, imidazolyl and pyrrazolyl, said heteroaryl groups being optionally substituted with one or two R.sub.2 groups;
• A is (CH.sub.2).sub.q where q is 0-5, lower branched chain alkyl having 3-6 carbons, cycloalkyl having 3-6 carbons, alkenyl having 2-6 carbons and 1 or 2 double bonds, alkynyl having 2-6 carbons and 1 or 2 triple bonds, and
• B is hydrogen, COOH or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, COOR.sub.8, CONR.sub.9 R.sub.10, --CH.sub.2 OH, CH.sub.2 OR.sub.11, CH.sub.3 OCOR.sub.11, CHO, CH(OR.sub.12).sub.2, CHOR.sub.13 O, --COR.sub.7, CRT(OR.sub.12).sub.2, CR.sub.7 OR.sub.13 O, or tri-lower alkylsilyl, where R.sub.7 is an alkyl, cycloalkyl or alkenyl group containing 1 to 5 carbons, R.sub.8 is an alkyl group of 1 to 10 carbons or (trimethylsilyl)alkyl where the alkyl group has 1 to 10 carbons, or a cycloalkyl group of 5 to 10 carbons, or R.sub.8 is phenyl or lower alkylphenyl, R.sub.9 and R.sub.10 independently are hydrogen, an alkyl group of 1 to 10 carbons, or a cycloalkyl group of 5-10 carbons, or phenyl or lower alkylphenyl, R.sub.11 is lower alkyl, phenyl or lower alkylphenyl, R.sub.12 is lower alkyl, and R.sub.13 is divalent alkyl radical of 2-5 carbons.