or physiologically acceptable salt thereof, wherein:

n is an integer from one to four;

M is >CR¹R²;

q¹ is zero;

q² is one;

R¹ is —H, —OH, —N₃, a halogen, an aliphatic group, a substituted aliphatic group, an aminoalkyl group, —O-(aliphatic group), —O-(substituted aliphatic group), —SH, —S-(aliphatic group), —S-(substituted aliphatic group), —OC(O)-(aliphatic group), —O—C(O)-(substituted aliphatic group), —C(O)O-(aliphatic group), —C(O)O-(substituted aliphatic group), —COOH, —CN, —CO—NR³R⁴, —NR³R⁴ or R¹ is a covalent bond between the ring atom at M and an adjacent carbon atom in the ring which contains M;

R² is —OH, a halogen, an acyl group, a substituted acyl group, —NR⁵R⁶, an aliphatic group, a substituted aliphatic group, an aromatic group, a substituted aromatic group, a benzyl group, a substituted benzyl group, a non-aromatic heterocyclic group, a substituted non-aromatic heterocyclic group, —O-(substituted or unsubstituted aromatic group) or —O-(substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group);

R³, R⁴, R⁵ and R⁶ are independently —H, an acyl group, a substituted acyl group, an aliphatic group, a substituted aliphatic group, an aromatic group, a substituted aromatic group, a benzyl group, a substituted benzyl group, a non-aromatic heterocyclic group or a substituted non-aromatic heterocyclic group; or

R¹ and R², R³ and R⁴, or R⁵ and R⁶ taken together with the atom to which they are bonded, form a substituted or unsubstituted non-aromatic carbocyclic or heterocyclic ring;

Z is:

X₁ is —S—, —CH₂—, —CH₂—CH₂—, —CH₂—S—, —S—CH₂—, —O—CH₂—, —CH₂—O—, —NR_c—CH₂—, —CH₂—NR_c—, —SO—CH₂—, —CH₂—SO—, —S(O)₂—CH₂—, —CH₂—S(O)₂—, —CH═CH—, —NR_c—CO—, a bond, —O—, or —CO—NR_c—;

R_c is —H, an aliphatic group, a substituted aliphatic group, an aromatic group, a substituted aromatic group, a benzyl group or a substituted benzyl group;

said acyl group is an aliphatic carbonyl, aromatic carbonyl, aliphatic sulfonyl or aromatic sulfonyl

said aliphatic group is a C₁-C₆ alkyl, alkenyl or alkynyl;

said aromatic group is selected from the group consisting of phenyl, 1-naphthyl, 2-naphthyl, 1-anthracyl, 2-anthracyl, N-imidazolyl, 2-imidazolyl, 4-imidazolyl, 5-imidazolyl, 2-thienyl, 3-thienyl, 2-furanyl, 3-furanyl, 2-pyrrolyl, 3-pyrrolyl, 2-pyridyl, 3-pyridyl, 4-pyridyl, 2-pyrimidyl, 4-pyrimidyl, 5-pyrimidyl, 3-pyridazinyl, 4-pyridazinyl, 3-pyrazolyl, 4-pyrazolyl, 5-pyrazolyl, 2-pyrazinyl, 2-thiazolyl, 4-thiazolyl, 5-thiazolyl, 5-tetrazolyl, 2-oxazolyl, 4-oxazolyl, 5-oxazolyl, tetrahydronaphthyl, 2-benzothienyl, 3-benzothienyl, 2-benzofuranyl, 3-benzofuranyl, 2-indolyl, 3-indolyl, 2-quinolinyl, 3-quinolinyl, 2-benzothiazolyl, 2-benzooxazolyl, 2-benzimidazolyl, 1-isoquinolinyl, 3-quinolinyl, 1-isoindolyl, 3-isoindolyl, acridinyl, 3-benzisoxazolyl, benzocyclopentyl, and benzocyclohexyl;

said non-aromatic heterocyclic group is a five to eight-membered non-aromatic ring which contains one or more heteroatoms independently selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur;

said substituted aliphatic group is substituted with one or more substituents selected from the group consisting of oxo group, epoxy group, non-aromatic heterocyclic ring, benzyl group, substituted benzyl group, aromatic group or substituted aromatic group electron withdrawing group, halo, azido, —CN, —CONR²⁴R²⁵, —NR²⁴R²⁵, —OS(O)₂NR²⁴R²⁵, —S(O)₂NR²⁴R²⁵, —SO₃H, guanidino, oxalo, —C(═NR⁶⁰)NR²¹R²², ═NR⁶⁰, —(O)_u—(CH₂)_t—C(O)OR²⁰, —(O)_u—(CH₂)_t—OC(O)R²⁰, —(O)_u—(CH₂)_t—C(O)—NR²¹R²², —(O)_u—(CH₂)_t—NHC(O)O—R²⁰, -Q-H, -Q-(aliphatic group), -Q-(substituted aliphatic group), -Q-(aryl), -Q-(aromatic group), -Q-(substituted aromatic group), -Q-(CH₂)_p-(substituted or unsubstituted aromatic group), -Q-(non-aromatic heterocyclic group) and -Q-(CH₂)_p-(non-aromatic heterocyclic group);

said substituted non-aromatic heterocyclic ring is substituted with one or more substituents selected from the group consisting of ═O, ═S, electron withdrawing group, halo, azido, —CN, —CONR²⁴R²⁵, —NR²⁴R²⁵, —OS(O)₂NR²⁴R²⁵, —S(O)₂NR²⁴R²⁵, —SO₃H, guanidino, oxalo, —C(═NR⁶⁰)NR²¹R²², ═NR⁶⁰, —(O)_u—(CH₂)_t—C(O)OR²⁰, —(O)_u—(CH₂)_t—OC(O)R²⁰, —(O)_u—(CH₂)_t—C(O)—NR²¹R²², —(O)_u—(CH₂)_t—NHC(O)O—R²⁰, -Q-H, -Q-(aliphatic group), -Q-(substituted aliphatic group), -Q-(aryl), -Q-(aromatic group), -Q-(substituted aromatic group), -Q-(CH₂)_p-(substituted or unsubstituted aromatic group), -Q-(non-aromatic heterocyclic group) and -Q-(CH₂)_p-(non-aromatic heterocyclic group);

said substituted aromatic group and substituted benzyl group are substituted with one or more substituents selected from the group consisting of electron withdrawing group, halo, azido, —CN, —CONR²⁴R²⁵, —NR²⁴R²⁵, —OS(O)₂NR²⁴R²⁵, —S(O)₂NR²⁴R²⁵, —SO₃H, guanidino, oxalo, —C(═NR⁶⁰)NR²¹R²², ═NR⁶⁰, —(O)_u—(CH₂)_t—C(O)OR²⁰, —(O)_u—(CH₂)_t—OC(O)R²⁰, —(O)_u—(CH₂)_t—C(O)—NR²¹R²², —(O)_u—(CH₂)_t—NHC(O)O—R²⁰, -Q-H, -Q-(aliphatic group), -Q-(substituted aliphatic group), -Q-(aryl), -Q-(aromatic group), -Q-(substituted aromatic group), -Q-(CH₂)_p-(substituted or unsubstituted aromatic group), -Q-(non-aromatic heterocyclic group) and -Q-(CH₂)_p-(non-aromatic heterocyclic group);

Q is —O—, —S—, —S(O)—, —S(O)₂—, —OS(O)₂—, —C(O)—, —OC(O)—, —C(O)O—, —C(O)C(O)—O—, —O—C(O)C(O)—, —NHC(O)—, —OC(O)NH—, —NH—C(O)—NH—, —S(O)₂NH—, —NHS(O)₂—, —C(NR²³)NHNH—, —NHNHC(NR²³)—, —NR²⁴C(O)— or —NR²⁴S(O)₂—;

R²⁰, R²¹ and R²² are independently —H, an aliphatic group, an aromatic group, a non-aromatic heterocyclic group, —NHC(O)—O-(aliphatic group), —NHC(O)—O-(aromatic group) or —NHC(O)—O-(non-aromatic heterocyclic group) or R²¹ and R²², taken together with the nitrogen atom to which they are bonded, form a substituted or unsubstituted non-aromatic heterocyclic ring;

R²³ is —H, an aliphatic group, a benzyl group, an aryl group or non-aromatic heterocyclic group;

R²⁴ and R²⁵ are independently —H, —OH, an aliphatic group, a substituted aliphatic group, a benzyl group, an aryl group, non-aromatic heterocyclic group or R²⁴ and R²⁵ taken together with the nitrogen atom to which they are bonded can form a substituted or unsubstituted non-aromatic heterocyclic ring;

R⁶⁰ is a —H, —OH, —NH₂, an aromatic group or a substituted aromatic group;

t is zero to three;

u is zero or one;

p is one to five; and

R⁴⁰ is selected from the group consisting of