N,N-Dimethyltryptamine is a substituted tryptamine that occurs in many plants and animals, including humans, and which is both a derivative and a structural analog of tryptamine. DMT is used as a psychedelic drug and prepared by various cultures for ritual purposes as an entheogen.
Psilocybin, also known as 4-phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (4-PO-DMT), and formerly sold under the brand name Indocybin, is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug compound produced by more than 200 species of fungi. Psilocybin is itself biologically inactive but is quickly converted by the body to psilocin, which has mind-altering effects similar, in some aspects, to those of other classical psychedelics. In general, the effects include euphoria, visual and mental hallucinations, changes in perception, a distorted sense of time, and perceived spiritual experiences. It can also cause adverse reactions such as nausea and panic attacks.
Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic hallucinogens or serotonergic hallucinogens, the term psychedelic is sometimes used more broadly to include various types of hallucinogens, such as those which are atypical or adjacent to psychedelia like salvia and MDMA, respectively.
5-MeO-DMT (5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) or O-methyl-bufotenin is a psychedelic of the tryptamine class. It is found in a wide variety of plant species, and also is secreted by the glands of at least one toad species, the Colorado River toad. Like its close relatives DMT and bufotenin (5-HO-DMT), it has been used as an entheogen in South America. Slang terms include Five-methoxy, the power, bufo, and toad venom.
Psilocin, also known as 4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (4-OH-DMT), is a substituted tryptamine alkaloid and a serotonergic psychedelic. It is present in most psychedelic mushrooms together with its phosphorylated counterpart psilocybin. Psilocin is a Schedule I drug under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Acting on the serotonin 5-HT2A receptors, psilocin's psychedelic effects are directly correlated with the drug's occupancy at these receptor sites. The subjective mind-altering effects of psilocin are highly variable and are said to resemble those of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT).
Bufotenin, also known as dimethylserotonin or as 5-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-HO-DMT), is a tryptamine derivative, more specifically, a dimethyltryptamine (DMT) analogue, related to the neurotransmitter serotonin. It is an alkaloid found in some species of mushrooms, plants and toads, especially the skin. It is also found naturally in the human body in small amounts.
DET, also known under its chemical name N,N-diethyltryptamine and as T-9, is a psychedelic drug closely related to DMT and 4-HO-DET. However, despite its structural similarity to DMT, its activity is induced by an oral dose of around 50–100 mg, without the aid of MAO inhibitors, and the effects last for about 2–4 hours.
4-HO-DET, also known as 4-hydroxy-diethyl-tryptamine, CZ-74, is a hallucinogenic drug and psychedelic compound of moderate duration. 4-HO-DET is a substituted tryptamine, structurally related to psilocin, ethocybin, and 4-HO-DIPT.
5-MeO-DET or 5-methoxy-N,N-diethyltryptamine is a hallucinogenic tryptamine.
4-HO-MiPT is a synthetic substituted aromatic compound and a lesser-known psychedelic tryptamine. It is thought to be a serotonergic psychedelic, similar to magic mushrooms, LSD and mescaline. Its molecular structure and pharmacological effects somewhat resemble those of the tryptamine psilocin, which is the primary psychoactive chemical in magic mushrooms.
Indole alkaloids are a class of alkaloids containing a structural moiety of indole; many indole alkaloids also include isoprene groups and are thus called terpene indole or secologanin tryptamine alkaloids. Containing more than 4100 known different compounds, it is one of the largest classes of alkaloids. Many of them possess significant physiological activity and some of them are used in medicine. The amino acid tryptophan is the biochemical precursor of indole alkaloids.
Psilacetin, also known as O-acetylpsilocin or as 4-acetoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine, is a semi-synthetic serotonergic psychedelic drug that has been suggested by David Nichols to be a potentially useful alternative to psilocybin for pharmacological studies, as they are both believed to be prodrugs of psilocin. However, some users report that O-acetylpsilocin's subjective effects differ from those of psilocybin and psilocin. Additionally, some users prefer 4-AcO-DMT to natural psilocybin mushrooms due to feeling fewer adverse side effects such as nausea and heavy body load, which are more frequently reported in experiences involving natural mushrooms. It is the acetylated form of the psilocybin mushroom alkaloid psilocin and is a lower homolog of 4-AcO-MET, 4-AcO-DET, 4-AcO-MiPT and 4-AcO-DiPT.
4-HO-MET is a lesser-known psychedelic drug. It is a structural and functional analog of psilocin as well as the 4-hydroxyl analog of methylethyltryptamine (MET). 4-HO-MET was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin. In his book TiHKAL, the dosage is listed as 10-20 mg. 4-HO-MET produces psilocin-like distortion of color, sound, and form. Very little data exists about the pharmacological properties, metabolism, and toxicity of 4-HO-MET. There have been no reports of deaths from 4-HO-MET, even though there exist anecdotal reports of the ingestion of up to 150 mg, more than an order of magnitude above the effective dose.
Aeruginascin, also known as 4-phosphoryloxy-N,N,N-trimethyltryptamine (4-PO-TMT), is an indoleamine derivative which occurs naturally within the mushrooms Inocybe aeruginascens, Pholiotina cyanopus, and Psilocybe cubensis.
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.
4-acetoxy-MET (4-acetoxy-N-methyl-N-ethyltryptamine), also known as 4-AcO-MET or metacetin, is a hallucinogenic tryptamine. It is the acetate ester of 4-HO-MET, and a homologue of 4-AcO-DMT. It is a novel compound with very little history of human use. It is sometimes sold as a research chemical by online retailers.
Psilocybin therapy is the use of psilocybin in treating a range of mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, addictions, obsessive compulsive disorder, and psychosis. It is one of several forms of psychedelic therapy under study. Psilocybin was popularized as a psychedelic recreational drug in the 1970s and was classified as a Schedule I drug by the DEA. Research on psilocybin as a medical treatment was restricted until the 1990s because of the sociocultural fear of dependence on this drug. As of 2022, psilocybin is the most commonly researched psychedelic due to its safety and low potential for abuse and dependence. Clinical trials are being conducted at universities and there is evidence confirming the use of psilocybin in the treatment of depression, PTSD and end of life anxiety.
5-MeO-MET (5-Methoxy-N-methyl-N-ethyltryptamine) is a relatively rare designer drug from the substituted tryptamine family, related to compounds such as N-methyl-N-ethyltryptamine and 5-MeO-DMT. It was first synthesised in the 1960s and was studied to a limited extent, but was first identified on the illicit market in June 2012 in Sweden. It was made illegal in Norway in 2013, and is controlled under analogue provisions in numerous other jurisdictions.
O-Acetylbufotenine, also known as bufotenine acetate or as 5-acetoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-AcO-DMT), is a tryptamine derivative which produces psychedelic-like effects in animal studies. It is an acylated derivative of bufotenine (5-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltrypamine) with higher lipophilicity that allows it to cross the blood–brain barrier; once inside the brain, it is metabolized to bufotenine. It is also known to act directly as an agonist of the serotonin 5-HT1A and 5-HT1D receptors.
A neurotransmitter prodrug, or neurotransmitter precursor, is a drug that acts as a prodrug of a neurotransmitter. A variety of neurotransmitter prodrugs have been developed and used in medicine. They can be useful when the neurotransmitter itself is not suitable for use as a pharmaceutical drug owing to unfavorable pharmacokinetic or physicochemical properties, for instance susceptibility to metabolism or lack of blood–brain barrier permeability. Besides their use in medicine, neurotransmitter prodrugs have also been used as recreational drugs in some cases.
