tert-butyl esters of new cephalosporin and penicillin analogs with an alkylidene substituent in the β-lactam ring. Most of these products were oxidized by meta-chloroperbenzoic acid to the corresponding sulfones. The cephemes and penams synthesized including the oxidized products displayed high cytotoxicity relative to cancer cells in vitro. Some of the alkylidene-substituted cephems as the free acids