In one aspect, the invention relates to compounds, including phenylethynylbenzamide derivatives, cycloalkylethynylbenzamide derivatives, styrylbenzamide derivatives, 4-(3-phenyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-yl)
benzamide derivatives, 4-(pyridinylethynyl)
benzamide derivatives, and N1-phenylterephthalamide derivatives, which are useful as positive allosteric modulators of the
metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 5 (mGluR5); synthetic methods for making the compounds; pharmaceutical compositions comprising the compounds; and methods of treating neurological and psychiatric disorders associated with glutamate dysfunction using the compounds and compositions. This abstract is intended as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention.