Three new acyl hydrazone compounds C12H12N4O3 (I), C12H14N4O4 (II) and C16H16N4O3 (III) are synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The crystal structural analyses show that the three compounds crystallize in the monoclinic crystal lattice. Their thermal decomposition processes under nitrogen and air are studied by TG-DTG, the sequence of the thermostability for three compounds at each condition is the same: III> I> II. The interaction modes of the three compounds with CF-DNA are investigated by UV-Vis absorption, showing hyperchromic and hypochromic effects. The thermogenic curves of the three compounds reacting with CT-DNA are measured by microcalorimetry, indicating that they are all endothermic reaction and the reaction times are within 10-30 min. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.