Design, synthesis, and structure–activity relationship studies of new phenolic DNA gyrase inhibitors

Starting from a biased needle screening hit 3a, we report herein the design and synthesis of a series of novel 2,3-dihydroisoindol-1-ones structurally related to cyclothialidine 2 with DNA gyrase inhibitory activity. In this series, some compounds exhibited promising antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacterial strains.