 The oxazolidinones have been known as monoamine oxidase inhibitors since the late 1950s . Their antimicrobial properties were discovered by researchers at E.I. duPont de Nemours in the 1970s . In 1978 , DuPont patented a series of oxazolidinone derivatives as being effective in the treatment of bacterial and fungal plant diseases , and in 1984 , another patent described their usefulness in treating bacterial infections in mammals . In 1987 , DuPont scientists presented a detailed description of the oxazolidinones as a new class of antibiotics with a novel mechanism of action . Early compounds were found to produce liver toxicity , however , and development was discontinued . 
