The retention characteristics of 25 2-cyano-3-methylthio-3-substituted amine-acrylates are determined using reversed-phase thin-layer chromatography (RP-TLC) with methanol-water mixtures as eluents. The relationship between Rm values and partition coefficients (C log P) are established. The Rm values decrease linearly with increasing methanol concentration in the eluent. The Rm values extrapolated to zero organic modifier concentration (Rm0) in the eluent are highly related to C log P. The Rm0 value can be used to evaluate the lipophilicity of this kind of compound.