In an effort to discover potent and selective metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 5 (mGluR5) antagonists, 15 tetrahydropyrimidinone analogues of 1-(3-chlorophenyl)-3-(1-methyl-4-oxo-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazol-2-yl)-urea (fenobam) were synthesized. These compounds were evaluated for antagonism of glutamate-mediated mobilization of internal calcium in an mGluR5 in vitro efficacy assay. The IC(50) value for 1-(3-chlorophenyl)-3-(1-methyl-4-oxo-1,4,5,6-tetrahydropyridine)urea (4g) was essentially identical to that of fenobam.