LAUSR

Abstract Twelve novel sulfonamide hybrids were designed by molecular hybridization strategy. The target sulfonamide hybrids were obtained in the click reaction of azide derivatives and commerciallly available alkynes. All sulfonamide hybrids were evaluated for their antiproliferative activity against three selected cancer cell lines (MGC-803, EC-109 and PC-3). Most of the synthesized compounds exhibited moderate to good activity against all the cancer cell lines selected. Particularly, compound 8c showed the potent antiproliferative activity with an $$\hbox {IC}_{50}$$IC50 value of $$0.7\,\upmu \hbox {mol}$$0.7μmol against MGC-803 cancer cells. These sulfonamide hybrids might be promising lead compounds to develop antitumor agents in the clinical practice.Graphical AbstractSYNOPSIS. Twelve novel sulfonamide hybrids were designed by molecular hybridization strategy. These sulfonamide hybrids were synthesized by click reaction and evaluated for their antiproliferative activity. Among them, compound 8c showed potent antiproliferative activity with an $$\hbox {IC}_{50}$$IC50 value of $$0.7\,\upmu \hbox {mol}$$0.7μmol against MGC-803 cells.