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-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-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.
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.
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 .
Cyclopropylmescaline is a lesser-known psychedelic drug. CPM was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin. In his book PiHKAL, the dosage range is listed as 60–80 mg and the duration listed as 12–18 hours. CPM produces closed-eye imagery, visuals, and fantasies. It also causes enhancement of music. Very little data exists about the pharmacological properties, metabolism, and toxicity of CPM.
Phenescaline, or 3,5-dimethoxy-4-phenylethoxyphenethylamine, is a lesser-known psychedelic drug. It is an analogue of mescaline. Alexander Shulgin first synthesized Phenescaline. In his book PiHKAL , the minimum dosage is listed as 150 mg, and the duration is unknown. Phenescaline produces a threshold effect. Very little data exists about the pharmacological properties, metabolism, and toxicity of phenescaline.
2C-H (2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine) is a lesser-known substituted phenethylamine of the 2C family.
3,4-Methylenedioxy-N-hydroxy-N-methylamphetamine is an entactogen, psychedelic, and stimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine chemical classes. It is the N-hydroxy homologue of MDMA ("Ecstasy"), and the N-methyl homologue of MDOH. MDHMA was first synthesized and assayed by Alexander Shulgin. In his book PiHKAL, Shulgin listed the dosage range as 100–160 mg, and the duration as approximately 4–8 hours. He describes MDHMA as causing entactogenic and open MDMA-like effects, easing communication, and increasing appreciation of the senses.
Ariadne is a little-known psychoactive drug. It is a homologue of the psychedelics 2C-D and DOM. Ariadne was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin. In his 1991 book PiHKAL, Shulgin reported testing Ariadne up to a dose of 32 mg, and reported that it produced "the alert of a psychedelic, with none of the rest of the package". Very little published data exists about the human pharmacology of Ariadne apart from Shulgin's limited testing; unpublished human trials reportedly observed some psychoactive effects, but no hallucinations.
2,5-Dimethoxy-4-propylamphetamine (DOPR) 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. Shulgin described DOPR as a "heavy duty psychedelic", complete with alterations of the thought process and visual distortion. Very little data exists about the pharmacological properties, metabolism, and toxicity of DOPR.
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.
N-Methyl-2-methoxy-4,5-methylenedioxyamphetamine is a psychedelic drug of the amphetamine class. It is the N-methylated derivative of MMDA-2, and it is also an analog of MDMA and 6-methyl-MDA.
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.
2C-Se is a lesser-known psychedelic drug. It was originally named by Alexander Shulgin as described in his book PiHKAL. Shulgin considered 2C-Se to be around three times the potency of mescaline, but was too concerned about toxicity to test it extensively, though he considered it noteworthy as the only psychedelic drug to contain a selenium atom.
