Protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO, EC 1.3. 3.4) is the action target for several structurally diverse herbicides. A series of novel 4-(difluoromethyl)-1-(6-halo-2-substituted-benzothiazol- 5-yl)-3-methyl-1H-1, 2, 4-triazol-5 (4H)-ones 2a–z were designed and synthesized via the ring-closure of two ortho-substituents. The in vitro bioassay results indicated that the 26 newly synthesized compounds exhibited good PPO inhibition effects with Ki values ...