BACKGROUND New benzopyrone derivatives such as Schiff's like compounds, acetohydrazides or substituted with oxadiazole or pyrazole heterocycles were synthesized from parent acid hydrazide compound 3. METHODS Structures of the synthesized compounds were elucidated using IR, NMR and mass spectroscopy. All the synthesized derivatives were selected by National Cancer Institute (NCI), Bethesda, and evaluated for their in vitro anticancer activity in the full NCI 60 cell lines panel assay. CONCLUSIONS Schiffs like compounds 4a, b and c were found to have good growth inhibition % against numerous cell lines that belong mainly to leukemia, non-small cell lung, CNS and breast Cancer subpanels.