An expedient synthesis of honokiol and its analogues as potential neuropreventive agents.

An efficient synthesis of honokiol with Suzuki-Miyaura cross coupling obtained an overall yield of 45%. The proposed approach successfully synthesized several structurally similar alkyl, alkenyl and alkynyl analogues, seven of which showed potential neuropreventive activity against MPP(+)-induced and CHP/TBHP oxidative stress induced neuroblastoma cell death.