Different 2,4-thiazolidinedione-tethered coumarins
5a–b
,
10a–n
and
11a–d
were synthesised and evaluated for their inhibitory action against the cancer-associated
h
CAs IX and XII, as well as the physiologically dominant
h
CAs I and II to explore their selectivity. Un-substituted phenyl-bearing coumarins
10a
,
10 h
, and 2-thienyl/furyl-bearing coumarins
11a–c
exhibited the best
h
CA IX (K
I
s between 0.48 and 0.93 µM) and
h
CA XII (K
I
s between 0.44 and 1.1 µM) inhibitory actions. Interestingly, none of the coumarins had any inhibitory effect on the off-target
h
CA I and II isoforms. The sub-micromolar compounds from the biochemical assay, coumarins
10a
,
10 h
and
11a–c
, were assessed in an
in vitro
antiproliferative assay, and then the most potent antiproliferative agent
11a
was tested to explore its impact on the cell cycle phases and apoptosis in MCF-7 breast cancer cells to provide more insights into the anticancer activity of these compounds.