Novel 1-phenyl-piperazine-2,6-diones were prepared by a new facile synthetic route using methyl N-substituted iminomonoacetate as starting material. The structures of these compounds were established by (1)H-NMR, (13)C-NMR and GC/MS. 2-(4-Chloro-5-cyclo-pentyl-oxy-2-fluorophenyl)-tetrahydro-2H-pyrido-[1,2-a]-pyrazine-1,3-(4H,6H)-dione displayed the greatest herbicidal activity.