Recent advances in the medicinal chemistry of the metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 (mGlu₁).

This Review summarizes the medicinal chemistry found in publications on both orthosteric and allosteric modulators of the metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 (mGlu(1)) from 2005 to the present. The time period covered by the scope of this current review has been particularly rich in mGlu(1)-related publications with numbers quadrupling when compared to the preceding five year period of 2000-2005. Publications in the field peaked in 2007 with over 35 articles appearing in the peer reviewed literature in the course of that year. Given that glutamate is one of the primary excitatory neurotransmitters in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS), it is unsurprising that it acts upon several receptors that are considered to be of potential therapeutic interest for many indications. Orthosteric and allosteric modulation of the receptor is possible, with a logical extrapolation to the chemotypes used for each strategy. The last five years of publications have yielded many mGlu(1) selective antagonist chemotypyes, most of which have shown efficacy in pain in vivo models. However, the primary impact of these compounds has been to highlight the mechanistic safety risks of mGlu(1) antagonism, independent of chemotype. As a review in medicinal chemistry, the primary focus of this paper will be on the design and, to a lesser degree, synthetic strategies for the delivery of subtype selective, CNS penetrant, druglike compounds through a "medchem" program, targeting modulators of the mGlu(1) receptor.