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-T-2 is a psychedelic and entactogenic phenethylamine of the 2C family. It was first synthesized in 1981 by Alexander Shulgin, and rated by him as one of the "magical half-dozen" most important psychedelic phenethylamine compounds. The drug has structural and pharmacodynamic properties similar to those of 2C-T-7.
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-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-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-B-FLY is a psychedelic phenethylamine and designer drug of the 2C family. It was first synthesized in 1996 by Aaron Monte, Professor of Chemistry at UW-La Crosse.
2,5-Dimethoxy-4-ethylamphetamine is a psychedelic drug of the phenethylamine and amphetamine chemical classes. It was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin, and was described in his book PiHKAL.
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.
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.
2,5-Dimethoxy-4-(2-fluoroethyl)amphetamine is a lesser-known psychedelic drug and member of the DOx class. DOEF was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin. In his book PiHKAL, the dosage range is listed as 2–3.5 mg, and the duration is listed as 12–16 hours. Very little data exists about the pharmacological properties, metabolism, and toxicity of DOEF.
2,5-Dimethoxy-4-ethoxyamphetamine (MEM) is a psychedelic drug of the phenethylamine and amphetamine chemical classes. It was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin. In his book PiHKAL, he lists the active dose range as 20–50 mg, and the duration as 10–14 hours. According to Shulgin, MEM produces color enhancement, visual phenomena, and pattern movement, among other effects.
2,5-Dimethoxy-4-fluoroamphetamine (DOF) is a psychedelic drug of the phenethylamine and amphetamine classes. Alexander Shulgin briefly describes DOF in his book PiHKAL:
Animal studies that have compared DOF to the highly potent DOI and DOB imply that the human activity will be some four to six times less than these two heavier halide analogues.
4-Substituted-2,5-dimethoxyamphetamines (DOx) is a chemical class of substituted amphetamine derivatives featuring methoxy groups at the 2- and 5- positions of the phenyl ring, and a substituent such as alkyl or halogen at the 4- position of the phenyl ring. Most compounds of this class are potent and long-lasting psychedelic drugs, and act as highly selective 5-HT2A, 5-HT2B, and 5-HT2C receptor partial agonists. A few bulkier derivatives such as DOAM have similarly high binding affinity for 5-HT2 receptors but instead act as antagonists, and so do not produce psychedelic effects though they retain amphetamine-like stimulant effects.
NBOMe-mescaline or mescaline-NBOMe is a synthetic substituted phenethylamine. It is a partial agonist of serotonin receptors with a 5-HT2A pKi originally reported as 7.3, though more modern techniques assayed it as 140nM at 5-HT2A and 640nM at 5-HT2C, making it one of the least potent compounds among the N-benzyl phenethylamines.
4C-B is a lesser-known psychedelic drug which is related to 2C-B and DOB. It is a reasonably potent 5-HT2A receptor partial agonist with a Ki of 7.6nM, but has relatively low efficacy. It is briefly mentioned in Alexander Shulgin's book PiHKAL but was never tested by him, however it has subsequently been tested by other researchers and was found to be active in a dose range of 50-80mg with a duration of around 8 hours, though with generally milder effects than 2C-B or DOB.
2C-T-3 is a lesser-known psychedelic drug related to compounds such as 2C-T-7 and 2C-T-16. It was named by Alexander Shulgin but was never made or tested by him, and was instead first synthesised by Daniel Trachsel some years later. It has a binding affinity of 11nM at 5-HT2A and 40nM at 5-HT2C. It is reportedly a potent psychedelic drug with an active dose in the 15–40 mg range, and a duration of action of 8–14 hours, with visual effects comparable to related drugs such as methallylescaline.
