In view of the above, and inasmuch as the indole carboxylate (InC) metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) inhibitors that were developed in Oxford are, in point of fact, not antibacterial in their own right, and must be co-administered with a β-lactam antibiotic e.g. penicillin, cephalosporin or carbapenem, it was of interest to partner the aforementioned InC with an antibacterial agent via a cleavable linker so as to generate novel associative heterodimers, which could be co-administered with a β-lactam antibiotic for an improved therapeutic effect.