Institute of Pharmaceutical Research, GLA University, 17, Km stone, NH-2, Mathura-Delhi Road, Mathura-281 406, Uttar Pradesh, India E-mail: pkutanu@gmail.com Fax: 91-5662-241218 Manuscript received 21 August 2017, revised 17 February 2018, accepted 31 May 2018 A series of 5-(4-substituted phenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazoles (4a-h) were prepared from 4-substituted benzoic acid hydrazides (3a-h). Structures of the synthesized compounds were confirmed on the basis of IR, 13C NMR, Mass spectral methods and elemental analysis. The compounds were screened for antioxidant activities using hydrogen peroxide scavenging method comparing with ascorbic acid as standard antioxidant. The results reveal that the compounds possess significant free radical scavenging activities. It is recommended that these compounds might be used in future to generate derivatives for emerging free radical scavenger.