Exploring Sulfonamides: Biological Activities and Structure–Activity Relationships

Abstract

Sulfonamides (SNs) are a well-known class of antibiotics that have been explored in many areas of medicinal chemistry. Their broad spectrum of biological and medicinal properties, which includes antibacterial, anticancer, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and enzyme inhibitory activities, has sustained continuous scientific interest. This review offers a thorough overview of the biological activities of SNs and their derivatives, with particular emphasis on their antibacterial and anticancer effects, as well as their role as carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. Additionally, we summarize some structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies that clarify how different substituents modulate potency and selectivity. By integrating insights from recent literature, this work, which is divided into five categories (antibacterial activity, anticancer activity, carbonic anhydrase inhibitory activity, and toxicity), highlights the pharmacological relevance of SNs, their structural diversity, and their continuing potential as scaffolds for creating new antibiotics.