Preferentially substituted calcium channel blockers

A method to identify a compound which is a blocker of ion channel activity which method comprises contacting a cell which displays said ion channel on its surface with a labeled compound known to bind said ion channel, said contacting in the presence and absence of said candidate compound and

• assessing the ability of said candidate compound to inhibit the binding of said labeled ligand, whereby a candidate compound whose presence results in inhibition of the binding of said ligand is identified as a blocker of said ion channel, and wherein said candidate compound is a member of a library which comprises compounds of the formula
• wherein m is 0, 1 or 2;
• wherein when m is 0, Z is 0, when m is 1, Z is N, and when m is 2, Z is C;
• Y is H, OH, NH2, or an organic moiety of 1-20C, optionally additionally containing 1-8 heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of N, P, O, S and halo;
• each l1 and l2 is independently 0-5;
• l3 is 0 or 1;
• each of R1, R2 and R3 is independently alkyl (1-6C), aryl (6-10C) or arylalkyl (7-16C) optionally containing 1-4 heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of halo, N, P, O, and S or each of R1 and R2 may independently be halo, COOR, CONR2, CF3, CN or NO2, wherein R is H or lower alkyl (1-4C) or alkyl (1-6C);
• n is 0 or 1;
• and
• X is a linker.