Abstract We report the synthesis of four series of 3, 5-disubstituted-phenyl ligands targeting the metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 5:(2-methylthiazol-4-yl) ethynyl (1a–j,),(6- methylpyridin-2-yl) ethynyl (2a–j),(5-methylpyridin-2-yl) ethynyl (3a–j,), and (pyridin-2-yl) ethynyl (4a–j,). The compounds were evaluated for antagonism of glutamate-mediated mobilization of internal calcium in an mGluR5 in vitro assay. All compounds were found to ...