Bioactive constituent of Magnoliae Cortex, the bark of Magnolia officinalis, Rehd. et Wils., Magnoliaceae, known in Chinese traditional medicine as houpo, or of M. obovata, Thunb., called wakoboku in Japanese. Isoln: Y. Sugii, Yakugaku Zasshi 50, 183 (1930), C.A. 24, 3505 (1930). Synthesis: H. Erdtman, J. Runeberg, Acta Chem. Scand. 11, 1060 (1957); J. Runeberg, ibid. 12, 188 (1958). Isoln from seeds of M. grandiflora L.: F. S. El-Feraly, W.-S. Li, Lloydia 41, 442 (1978). CNS depressant effects: K. Watanabe et al., Jpn. J. Pharmacol. 25, 605 (1975); eidem, Planta Med. 49, 103 (1983). Anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects: J.-P. Wang et al., Arch. Pharmacol. 346, 707 (1992). HPLC determn: T.-H. Tsai, C.-F. Chen, J. Chromatogr. 598, 143 (1992).