Amphetamine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. Amphetamine was discovered as a chemical in 1887 by Lazăr Edeleanu, and then as a drug in the late 1920s. It exists as two enantiomers: levoamphetamine and dextroamphetamine. Amphetamine properly refers to a specific chemical, the racemic free base, which is equal parts of the two enantiomers in their pure amine forms. The term is frequently used informally to refer to any combination of the enantiomers, or to either of them alone. Historically, it has been used to treat nasal congestion and depression. Amphetamine is also used as an athletic performance enhancer and cognitive enhancer, and recreationally as an aphrodisiac and euphoriant. It is a prescription drug in many countries, and unauthorized possession and distribution of amphetamine are often tightly controlled due to the significant health risks associated with recreational use.
Stimulants is an overarching term that covers many drugs including those that increase the activity of the central nervous system and the body, drugs that are pleasurable and invigorating, or drugs that have sympathomimetic effects. Stimulants are widely used throughout the world as prescription medicines as well as without a prescription as performance-enhancing or recreational drugs. Among narcotics, stimulants produce a noticeable crash or comedown at the end of their effects. The most frequently prescribed stimulants as of 2013 were lisdexamfetamine (Vyvanse), methylphenidate (Ritalin), and amphetamine (Adderall). It was estimated in 2015 that the percentage of the world population that had used cocaine during a year was 0.4%. For the category "amphetamines and prescription stimulants" the value was 0.7%, and for MDMA 0.4%.
4-Fluoroamphetamine, also known as para-fluoroamphetamine (PFA) is a psychoactive research chemical of the phenethylamine and substituted amphetamine chemical classes. It produces stimulant and entactogenic effects. As a recreational drug, 4-FA is sometimes sold along with related compounds such as 2-fluoroamphetamine and 4-fluoromethamphetamine.
para-Methoxyphenylpiperazine is a piperazine derivative with stimulant effects which has been sold as an ingredient in "Party pills", initially in New Zealand and subsequently in other countries around the world.
(-)-1-Phenyl-2-propylaminopentane is a stimulant of the substituted phenethylamine class that has been derived from selegiline. When compared with selegiline and other substituted phenethylamines (-)-PPAP has a notably different mechanism of action and pharmacological effect.
GYKI 52895 is a drug which is a 2,3-benzodiazepine derivative that also shares the 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine pharmacophore. Unlike other similar drugs, GYKI 52895 is a selective dopamine reuptake inhibitor (DARI), which appears to have an atypical mode of action compared to other DARIs. Its DRI activity is shared by numerous addictive drugs including amphetamine and its derivatives, cocaine, and methylphenidate and its derivatives. However, dopaminergic drugs are also prone to producing emetic effects such as in the case of apomorphine.
para-Chloroamphetamine (PCA), also known as 4-chloroamphetamine (4-CA), is a substituted amphetamine and monoamine releaser similar to MDMA, but with substantially higher neurotoxicity, thought to be due to the unrestrained release of both serotonin and dopamine by a metabolite. It is used as a neurotoxin by neurobiologists to selectively kill serotonergic neurons for research purposes, in the same way that 6-hydroxydopamine is used to kill dopaminergic neurons.
para-Bromoamphetamine (PBA), also known as 4-bromoamphetamine (4-BA), is an amphetamine derivative which acts as a serotonin-norepinephrine-dopamine releasing agent (SNDRA) and produces stimulant effects.
3-Methoxymethamphetamine, which is most closely related to 3-methoxyamphetamine and PMMA and shares similar monoamine releasing effects, although its effects have not been studied so extensively as other related drugs. It is an agonist of human TAAR1.
Substituted amphetamines are a class of compounds based upon the amphetamine structure; it includes all derivative compounds which are formed by replacing, or substituting, one or more hydrogen atoms in the amphetamine core structure with substituents. The compounds in this class span a variety of pharmacological subclasses, including stimulants, empathogens, and hallucinogens, among others. Examples of substituted amphetamines are amphetamine (itself), methamphetamine, ephedrine, cathinone, phentermine, mephentermine, tranylcypromine, bupropion, methoxyphenamine, selegiline, amfepramone (diethylpropion), pyrovalerone, MDMA (ecstasy), and DOM (STP).
Phenylisobutylamine, also known as α-ethylphenethylamine, Butanphenamine, B or AEPEA, is a stimulant drug of the phenethylamine class. It is a higher homologue of amphetamine, differing from amphetamine's molecular structure only by the substitution of the methyl group at the alpha position of the side chain with an ethyl group. Compared to amphetamine, phenylisobutylamine has strongly reduced dopaminergic effects, and instead acts as a selective norepinephrine releasing agent. The dextroisomer of phenylisobutylamine partially substitutes for dextroamphetamine in rats.
Thiopropamine is a stimulant drug which is an analogue of amphetamine where the phenyl ring has been replaced by thiophene. It has similar stimulant effects to amphetamine but with around one third the potency. The N-methyl and thiophen-3-yl analogues are also known and are somewhat more potent, though still generally weaker than the corresponding amphetamines.
3,4-Methylenedioxycathinone is an empathogen and stimulant of the phenethylamine, amphetamine, and cathinone classes and the β-keto analogue of MDA.
3,4-Ethylidenedioxyamphetamine (EIDA) is a substituted derivative of 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), which was developed by David Nichols and coworkers, in the course of research to determine the bulk tolerance around the benzodioxole portion of the MDA molecule. EIDA was found to produce similar effects to MDA in animals but with less than half the potency, while the isopropylidenedioxy derivative did not substitute for MDA and instead had sedative and convulsant effects. This shows limited bulk tolerance at this position and makes it likely the activity of EIDA will reside primarily in one enantiomer, although only the racemic mix has been studied as yet.
Substituted tryptamines, or serotonin analogues, are organic compounds which may be thought of as being derived from tryptamine itself. The molecular structures of all tryptamines contain an indole ring, joined to an amino (NH2) group via an ethyl (−CH2–CH2−) sidechain. In substituted tryptamines, the indole ring, sidechain, and/or amino group are modified by substituting another group for one of the hydrogen (H) atoms.
para-Chloromethamphetamine is a stimulant that is the N-methyl derivative and prodrug of the neurotoxic drug para-chloroamphetamine (4-CA). It has been found to decrease serotonin in rats. Further investigation into the long-term effects of chloroamphetamines discovered that administration of 4-CMA caused a prolonged reduction in the levels of serotonin and the activity of tryptophan hydroxylase in the brain one month after injection of a single dose of the drug.
Cericlamine is a potent and moderately selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) of the amphetamine family that was investigated as an antidepressant for the treatment of depression, anxiety disorders, and anorexia nervosa by Jouveinal but did not complete development and was never marketed. It reached phase III clinical trials in 1996 before development was discontinued in 1999.
The substituted benzofurans are a class of chemical compounds based on the heterocyclyc and polycyclic compound benzofuran. Many medicines use the benzofuran core as a scaffold, but most commonly the term is used to refer to the simpler compounds in this class which include numerous psychoactive drugs, including stimulants, psychedelics and empathogens. In general, these compounds have a benzofuran core to which a 2-aminoethyl group is attached, and combined with a range of other substituents. Some psychoactive derivatives from this family have been sold under the name Benzofury.
N-Ethylhexedrone (also known as α-ethylaminocaprophenone, N-ethylnorhexedrone, hexen, and NEH) is a stimulant of the cathinone class that acts as a norepinephrine–dopamine reuptake inhibitor (NDRI) with IC50 values of 0.0978 and 0.0467 μM, respectively. N-Ethylhexedrone was first mentioned in a series of patents by Boehringer Ingelheim in the 1960s which led to the development of the better-known drug methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV). Since the mid-2010s, N-ethylhexedrone has been sold online as a designer drug. In 2018, N-ethylhexedrone was the second most common drug of the cathinone class to be identified in Drug Enforcement Administration seizures.
5-Methylmethiopropamine is a stimulant drug which is a ring-substituted derivative of methiopropamine. It is not a substituted cathinone derivative like mephedrone, as it lacks a ketone group at the β position of the aliphatic side chain, but instead more closely resembles substituted amphetamines. It has been sold as a designer drug, first being identified in Germany in June 2020.
