Sulfonamide derivatives: Synthesis and applications

Abstract

Sulfonamides belong to an important class of compounds which showed wide ranges of biological activities like antibacterial, antiviral, diuretic, hypo-glycemic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory and recently anti-covid-19. Over the last few decades, various pharmacological activities of sulfonamide conjugates were published. Moreover, many lead compounds with sulfonamide functionality are also in clinical trial for the treatment of various medical conditions. For these reasons, development of an efficient process for the synthesis of sulfonamides has always been in the focus for research in organic field synthesis. The most typical method for the synthesis involves reaction between primary or secondary amines and sulfonyl chloride in presence of organic or inorganic bases. Although this method is effective, but the nucleophilicity of amines may vary depending on the groups attached to it. In general, primary amines are highly reactive, whereas secondary amines show very low to almost nil reactivity. In this study, we have reviewed past and recent biological effects of some sulfonamide derivatives and some advances efficient synthetic procedures for some types of sulfonamides.