Coumarin-triazole hybrids: Design, microwave-assisted synthesis, crystal and molecular structure, theoretical and computational studies and screening for their anticancer potentials against PC-3 and DU-145

•A series of novel coumarin tethered triazole hybrids 7(a-e) were designed and synthesized.•New compounds were characterized by spectral analysis, and were evaluated in vitro for cytotoxicity on prostate cancer cell lines.•Molecular docking studies reveal 7c and 7d possess high affinity towards active binding site of (VEGFR-1), (VEGFR-2) and (EGFR).•The 3D molecular structure of 6e was confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction studies.•Hirshfeld surface studies and DFT calculations were performed to substantiate the experimental results of 6e. This study presents the synthesis of series of α,β-unsaturated carbonyl linked coumarin-triazole hybrids, 7(a-e) by microwave irradiation conditions. The target compounds were synthesized in four steps starting from 4-hydroxycoumarin, 1 and substituted aromatic primary amines, 3. Spectroscopic analysis provide the structure proofs of synthesized new compounds 6e and 7(a-e), and the molecular structure of one of the intermediate compound 6e was confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. The crystal structure analysis shows that the C-H...π, C-O...π and π—π intermolecular interactions stabilizes the crystal structure, the intermolecular interactions are quantified through Hirshfeld surface analysis. To substantiate the X-ray crystal structure, the density functional theory calculations were performed. Further, the target compounds coumarin-triazole hybrids, were screened in vitro for their anticancer activity against PC-3 and DU-145 cell lines. The result shows that, amongst the series, compound 7c was more potent against PC-3 and DU-145 cell lines. [Display omitted]