The respiratory chain is a promising target for the development of new antimycobacterial agents, and a growing number of compounds have been reported and have entered clinical trials. We summarize the main features and the electron transfer process of the mycobacterial respiratory chain, and the recent progress in the search for new small molecule inhibitors targeting the respiratory chain of Mtb. Display omitted With the emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and extensive drug-resistant tuberculosis strains, there is an urgent need to develop novel drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis. The respiratory chain is a promising target for the development of new antimycobacterial agents, and a growing number of compounds have been reported and some have entered clinical trials. In this review, we summarize the main features and the electron transfer process of the mycobacterial respiratory chain, and the recent progress in the search for new small molecule inhibitors targeting the three main potential targets in the respiratory chain of Mycrobacterium tuberculosis. Our emphasis is on the optimization strategy of QcrB inhibitors and the challenges of developing QcrB inhibitors as antituberculosis drugs due to the alternate bd-type oxidase oxidative compensation pathway are discussed.