A series of new triazole-containing ketolides and 2-fluoro-ketolides in which the 5-O-desosamine was replaced by unnatural sugars were synthesized and evaluated against relevant macrolide-sensitive and macrolide-resistant respiratory pathogens. Excellent in vitro antibacterial activities were demonstrated for ketolide analogues having the 6'-OBz-3'-dimethylamino-glucose and 6'-OBz-4'-deoxy-3'-dimethylamino-glucose substituents.