biological properties of new amides, esters and other derivatives of trans-stilbene are described. The key synthetic strategies involve the Wittig–Horner reaction of a phosphonium salt 9 and an aldehyde 10 to generate (E)- or (Z)-olefins and a coupling reaction of an acid 12 and various amines 13a–n to give trans-stilbene derivatives 15a–n in high yields. A amidederivative 15g showed three times more in