A series of styrylquinolines was designed and synthesized based on the four main quinoline scaffolds including oxine, chloroxine and quinolines substituted with a hydroxyl group or chlorine atom at the C4 position. All of the compounds were tested for their anticancer activity on wild-type colon cancer cells (HCT 116) and those with a p53 deletion. Analysis of SAR revealed the importance of electron-withdrawing