Disclosed herein are hydroxylthienoquinolones and related compounds and their pharmaceutically acceptable salts useful as antiviral agents and having the general formula in which the variables R2, R6, and R7 are defined herein. Certain compounds provided herein possess potent antibacterial, antiprotozoal, or antifungal activity and are particularly efficacious for the treatment of MRSA infections. The invention also provides pharmaceutical compositions, pharmaceutical compositions containing a hydroxylthienoquinolone in combination with one or more other active agent, and methods of treating microbial infections in animals by administering an effective amount of a hydroxylthienoquinolone or related compound to an animal suffering from a microbial infection.