A series of some new (E)-2-(arylbenzylidene)-2-((4-methoxyphenyl)amino)acetohydrazides 4(a-j) have been conveniently synthesized by intermolecular oxidative cyclization of (E)-2-(arylbenzylidene)-2-[(4-methoxyphenyl)amino]acetohydrazides promoted by iodobenzene diacetate as an oxidant. The structures of the synthesized compounds have been confirmed by 1H NMR, IR, MS and elemental analysis. All the synthesized compounds were tested for their inhibitory action against clinically isolated strains i.e., Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Xanthomonas campestris, Escherichia coli and Fusarium oxysporum. Compounds 4f (21-28 mm, 73.8 %), 4i (20-24 mm, 72.4 %) and 4j (21-27 mm, 71.6 %) demonstrated good antimicrobial activity against all the tested bacterial and fungal strains.