ABSTRACT
Quinolones have been a dynamically developing class of antibacterials, inducing clinical and scientic interest since their discovery in the early 1960s, when the rst representative of this group, nalidixic acid (patented in 1962), was introduced into medical practice. Quinolones are totally synthetic chemical compounds that exert antibacterial activity by inhibiting bacterial DNA gyrase-dependent processes (Kuhlmann et al. 1998) (Figure 44.1 shows the quinolones considered in this review).
