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Nine new coumarin derivatives of 2-(7-hydroxy-2-oxo-2H-chromen-4-yl)acetic acid 6a-i have been successfully synthesized through amide coupling with various substituted anilines and 2-aminopyridines. The synthesized derivatives were screened for anticancer activity using MTT assay on MCF-7 cell line. The results showed that compound 6b inhibited MCF-7 cell growth in a dose-dependent manner and reached 47% inhibition at 40 mu M, being better than starting material 5 and references 3 and 5FU drug. Moreover, 6b inhibited significantly 3D tumorsphere formation. The para-Br substitution of 6b seems to be important for activity. Docking study suggests estrogen receptor and/or 3a-HSD type 3 protein could be the target(s) for anticancer activity of this class of compounds. Further optimization of compound 6b should lead to more potent compound. Coumarin is bioactive scaffold found both in natural and synthetic compounds including drugs such as warfarin, hymecromone, and novobiocin. Starting from 2-(7-hydroxy-2-oxo-2H-chromen-4-yl)acetic acid, a derivative of hymecromone, we synthesized new coumarin derivatives through amide linkage with various substituted anilines and 2-aminopyridines. Among these, the para bromo substituted 6b inhibited strongly MCF-7 3D tumor sphere formation thus represents attractive lead for further optimization and mechanistic study. image