Carbohybrids are an important class of molecules which exhibit diverse biological activities and are present as structural motifs in many natural products. Two series of new triazole linked N-glycosides of coumarins and quinolones (n = 27) were efficiently synthesized starting from 1-azido-2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl β-d-glucose and 1-azido-2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl β-d-galactose reacting with various 4-O-propargyl coumarins and 4-O-propargyl quinolones in shorter reaction time (30 min) under microwave assisted conditions. Anticancer activity of these newly synthesized triazole linked N-glycosides of coumarins and quinolones was determined in detail through cellular assays against MCF-7 (breast cancer cell line), HepG2 (liver cancer cell line), HCT-116 (colon cancer cell line) and Huh-7.5 cell lines. The selected library member displayed low micromolar (IC50 10.97 μM) and selective toxicity against the breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). Mechanistic studies showed that the anticancer activity of the active compound was because of the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.