Vanillin containing 9H-fluoren sulfone scaffolds: Synthesis, biological evaluation and molecular docking study

•Vanillin containing 9H-fluoren sulfone scaffolds were synthesized and characterised.•All synthesized sulfone derivatives have shown moderate to high yield.•The resultant molecules exhibited high antimalarial, antibacterial and moderate antifungal activities.•The molecular protein–ligand interaction was explored for antimalarial activity.