Abstract A series of 3‐aryl‐2‐(2‐thienyl)acrylonitriles 7 and 3‐aryl‐2‐(3‐thienyl)acrylonitriles 8 were synthesized by the reaction of aromatic aldehydes 6 with 2‐ and 3‐thienylacetonitriles 4 and 5, and evaluated for antifungal and cytotoxic activities against a panel of opportunistic and pathogenic fungi and three different cancer cell lines, respectively.