Cyclic imides are well known to be very important antitumor agents such as mitonafide and amonafide etc. Based on this fact, we have synthesized two series of cyclic imide derivatives containing two cyclic imide moiety in their structures (bis-cyclic imides) and screened them for in vitro anticancer activity against five human cancer cell lines i.e. breast (T47D), lung (NCl H-522), colon (HCT-15), ovary (PA-1) and liver (Hep G2). One series of bis-cyclic imide derivatives (3a-h) have been synthesized by condensation of acid anhydrides (1a-b) with diamines (2a-d) and another series (9a-f, 10a-f, 11a-f and 12a-f) by condensation of various diamines (4a-f) with diacids (5-8) in good yields. Structures assigned to 3a-h, 9a-f, 10a-f, 11a-f and 12a-f were fully characterized by spectroscopic means and elemental analysis. On screening for in vitro anticancer activity, compounds 3a (breast T47D), 3d (breast T47D, liver Hep G2), 3e (breast T47D, liver Hep G2), 3h (colon HCT-15), 10f (liver Hep G2) and 11a (colon HCT-15, ovary PA-1) exhibited good anticancer activities with IC50 values range from 12.41±3.2 to 17.9±2.5μM.