PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story is a book by Dr. Alexander Shulgin and Ann Shulgin, published in 1991. The subject of the work is psychoactive phenethylamine chemical derivatives, notably those that act as psychedelics and/or empathogen-entactogens. The main title, PiHKAL, is an acronym that stands for "Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved."
2C-B (4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine) is a synthetic psychedelic drug of the 2C family, mainly used as a recreational drug. The substance was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin in 1974, and gained an initial reputation for potential psychotherapeutic use, but its use has been limited to mainly recreational use. To date, there is limited scientific information regarding the drug's pharmacokinetics and pharmacological effects in humans. The existing studies primarily classify 2C-B as a stimulant, and hallucinogen, and less commonly as an entactogen, and empathogen.
2C-E is a psychedelic phenethylamine of the 2C family. It was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin and documented in his book PiHKAL. Like the other substances in its family, it produces sensory and cognitive effects in its physical reactions with living organisms.
Dimethoxybromoamphetamine (DOB), also known as brolamfetamine (INN) and bromo-DMA, is a psychedelic drug and substituted amphetamine of the phenethylamine class of compounds. DOB was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin in 1967. Its synthesis and effects are documented in Shulgin's book PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story.
2C-T-8 is a psychedelic phenethylamine of the 2C family. It was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin, sometimes used as an entheogen.
2C-N (2,5-dimethoxy-4-nitrophenethylamine) is a psychedelic phenethylamine of the 2C family. It was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin.
2C-T-4 (2,5-dimethoxy-4-isopropylthiophenethylamine) is a psychedelic phenethylamine of the 2C family. It was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin and is used as entheogenic recreational drug.
2C-G is a psychedelic phenethylamine of the 2C-series. First synthesized by Alexander Shulgin, it is sometimes used as an entheogen. It has structural and pharmacodynamic properties similar to 2C-D and Ganesha. Like many of the phenethylamines in PiHKAL, 2C-G and its homologs have only been taken by Shulgin and a small test group, making it difficult to ensure completeness when describing effects.
2C-T is a psychedelic and hallucinogenic drug of the 2C family. It is used by some as an entheogen. It has structural and pharmacodynamic properties similar to the drugs mescaline and 2C-T-2.
2C-TFM is a psychedelic phenethylamine of the 2C family. It was first synthesized in the laboratory of David E. Nichols. It has also been called 2C-CF3, a name derived from the Para-trifluoromethyl group it contains.
2C-O-4 (4-isopropoxy-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine) is a phenethylamine of the 2C family. It is also a positional isomer of isoproscaline and was probably first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin. It produces hallucinogenic, psychedelic, and entheogenic effects. Because of the low potency of 2C-O-4, and the inactivity of 2C-O, Shulgin felt that the 2C-O series would not be an exciting area for research, and did not pursue any further analogues.
2C (2C-x) is a general name for the family of psychedelic phenethylamines containing methoxy groups on the 2 and 5 positions of a benzene ring. Most of these compounds also carry lipophilic substituents at the 4 position, usually resulting in more potent and more metabolically stable and longer acting compounds. Most of the currently known 2C compounds were first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin in the 1970s and 1980s and published in his book PiHKAL. Shulgin also coined the term 2C, being an acronym for the 2 carbon atoms between the benzene ring and the amino group.
2C-F (4-fluoro-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine) is a lesser-known psychedelic drug of the 2C family. It was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin. In his book PiHKAL, the minimum dosage is listed as 250 mg. 2C-F may be found as a brownish freebase oil, or as a white crystalline hydrochloride salt.
Ganesha (2,5-dimethoxy-3,4-dimethylamphetamine) is a lesser-known psychedelic drug. It is also a substituted amphetamine. It was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin. In his book PiHKAL, the dosage range is listed as 24–32 mg. The drug is usually taken orally, although other routes such as rectally may also be used. Ganesha is synthesized from 2,5-dimethoxy-3,4-dimethylbenzaldehyde. Ganesha is the amphetamine analog of 2C-G. It is a particularly long lasting drug, with the duration listed in PiHKAL as being 18–24 hours, which might make it undesirable to some users. It is named after the Hindu deity, Ganesha. Very little is known about the dangers or toxicity of ganesha. Effects of ganesha include:
Aleph is a psychedelic hallucinogenic drug and a substituted amphetamine of the phenethylamine class of compounds, which can be used as an entheogen. It was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin, who named it after the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In his book PiHKAL, Shulgin lists the dosage range as 5–10 mg, with effects typically lasting for 6 to 8 hours.
2C-T-15 or 2,5-dimethoxy-4-(β-cyclopropylthio)phenethylamine is a psychedelic phenethylamine of the 2C family. It was presumably first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin and reported in his book PiHKAL .
2C-T-17 or 2,5-dimethoxy-4-(β-secbutylthio)phenethylamine is a psychedelic phenethylamine of the 2C family. It was presumably first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin and reported in his book PiHKAL .
2C-H (2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine) is a lesser-known substituted phenethylamine of the 2C family.
Dimethoxyamphetamine (DMA) is a series of six lesser-known psychedelic drugs similar in structure to the three isomers of methoxyamphetamine and six isomers of trimethoxyamphetamine. The isomers are 2,3-DMA, 2,4-DMA, 2,5-DMA, 2,6-DMA, 3,4-DMA, and 3,5-DMA. Three of the isomers were characterized by Alexander Shulgin in his book PiHKAL. Little is known about their dangers or toxicity.
2C-T-16 is a lesser-known psychedelic drug. It was originally named by Alexander Shulgin as described in his book PiHKAL, however while Shulgin began synthesis of this compound he only got as far as the nitrostyrene intermediate, and did not complete the final synthetic step. Synthesis of 2C-T-16 was finally achieved by Daniel Trachsel some years later, and it was subsequently reported as showing similar psychedelic activity to related compounds, with a dose range of 10–25 mg and a duration of 4–6 hours, making it around the same potency as the better-known saturated analogue 2C-T-7, but with a significantly shorter duration of action. Binding studies in vitro showed 2C-T-16 to have a binding affinity of 44 nM at 5-HT2A and 15 nM at 5-HT2C. 2C-T-16 and related derivatives are potent partial agonists of the 5-HT1A, 5-HT2A, 5-HT2B and 5-HT2C receptors and induce a head-twitch response in mice.
