Fludiazepam, marketed under the brand name Erispan (エリスパン) is a potent benzodiazepine and 2ʹ-fluoro derivative of diazepam, originally developed by Hoffmann-La Roche in the 1960s. It is marketed in Japan and Taiwan. It exerts its pharmacological properties via enhancement of GABAergic inhibition. Fludiazepam has 4 times more binding affinity for benzodiazepine receptors than diazepam. It possesses anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, sedative, hypnotic and skeletal muscle relaxant properties. Fludiazepam has been used recreationally.
Etizolam is a thienodiazepine derivative which is a benzodiazepine analog. The etizolam molecule differs from a benzodiazepine in that the benzene ring has been replaced by a thiophene ring and triazole ring has been fused, making the drug a thienotriazolodiazepine.
Meclonazepam ((S)-3-methylclonazepam) was discovered by a team at Hoffmann-La Roche in the 1970s and is a drug which is a benzodiazepine derivative similar in structure to clonazepam. It has sedative and anxiolytic actions like those of other benzodiazepines, and also has anti-parasitic effects against the parasitic worm Schistosoma mansoni.
Eutylone is a stimulant and empathogenic compound developed in the 1960s, which is classified as a designer drug. It was first reported to the EMCDDA in 2014 and became widespread internationally in 2019-2020 following bans on the related compound ephylone. It is a synthetic cathinone. In 2021, eutylone was the most common cathinone identified by the Drug Enforcement Administration in the United States.
Pyrazolam (SH-I-04) is a benzodiazepine derivative originally developed by a team led by Leo Sternbach at Hoffman-La Roche in the 1970s. It has since been "rediscovered" and sold as a designer drug since 2012.
Diclazepam (Ro5-3448), also known as chlorodiazepam and 2'-chloro-diazepam, is a benzodiazepine and functional analog of diazepam. It was first synthesized by Leo Sternbach and his team at Hoffman-La Roche in 1960. It is not currently approved for use as a medication, but rather sold as an unscheduled substance. Efficacy and safety have not been tested in humans.
Flubromazepam is a benzodiazepine derivative which was first synthesized in 1960, but was never marketed and did not receive any further attention or study until late 2012 when it appeared on the grey market as a novel designer drug.
Clonazolam is a drug of the triazolobenzodiazepine (TBZD) class, which are benzodiazepines (BZDs) fused with a triazole ring. Although little research has been done about its effects and metabolism, it is sold online as a designer drug.
Flubromazolam (JYI-73) is a triazolobenzodiazepine (TBZD), which are benzodiazepine (BZD) derivatives. Flubromazolam is reputed to be highly potent, and concerns have been raised that clonazolam and flubromazolam in particular may pose comparatively higher risks than other designer benzodiazepines, due to their ability to produce strong sedation and amnesia at oral doses of as little as 0.5 mg. Life-threatening adverse reactions have been observed at doses of only 3 mg of flubromazolam.
Furanylfentanyl (Fu-F) is an opioid analgesic that is an analog of fentanyl and has been sold as a designer drug. It has an ED50 value of 0.02 mg/kg in mice. This makes it approximately one fifth as potent as fentanyl.
Deschloroetizolam is a thienotriazolodiazepine that is the dechlorinated analog of the closely related etizolam. The compound has been sold as a designer drug.
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.
Bromazolam (XLI-268) is a triazolobenzodiazepine (TBZD) which was first synthesised in 1976, but was never marketed. It has subsequently been sold as a designer drug, first being definitively identified by the EMCDDA in Sweden in 2016. It is the bromo instead of chloro analogue of alprazolam and has similar sedative and anxiolytic effects to it and other benzodiazepines. Bromazolam is a non subtype selective agonist at the benzodiazepine site of GABAA receptors, with a binding affinity of 2.81 nM at the α1 subtype, 0.69 nM at α2 and 0.62 nM at α5. The "common" dosage range for users of bromazolam was reported to be 1–2 mg, suggesting its potency is similar to alprazolam.
Flunitrazolam is a triazolobenzodiazepine (TBZD), which are benzodiazepine (BZD) derivatives, that has been sold online as a designer drug, and is a potent hypnotic and sedative drug similar to related compounds such as flunitrazepam, clonazolam and flubromazolam. It was first definitively identified and reported to the EMCDDA Early Warning System, by an analytical laboratory in Germany in October 2016, and had not been described in the scientific or patent literature before this. It is the triazole analogue of Flunitrazepam (Rohypnol). The addition of the triazole ring to the scaffold increases potency significantly, this is evident as flunitrazolam is reported anecdotally to be active in the microgram level. It is active at 0.1 mg.
Difludiazepam (Ro07-4065) is a benzodiazepine derivative which is the 2',6'-difluoro derivative of fludiazepam. It was invented in the 1970s but was never marketed, and has been used as a research tool to help determine the shape and function of the GABAA receptors, at which it has an IC50 of 4.1nM. Difludiazepam has subsequently been sold as a designer drug, and was first notified to the EMCDDA by Swedish authorities in 2017.
Fluclotizolam is a thienotriazolodiazepine derivative which was first synthesised in 1979, but was never marketed. It has subsequently been sold as a designer drug, first being definitively identified in 2017.
2-Oxo-PCE is a dissociative anesthetic of the arylcyclohexylamine class that is closely related to deschloroketamine and eticyclidine, and has been sold online as a designer drug.
Phenazolam, is a benzodiazepine derivative which acts as a potent sedative and hypnotic drug. It was first invented in the early 1980s, but was never developed for medical use. It has been sold over the internet as a designer drug, first being identified in seized samples by a laboratory in Sweden in March 2016.
Brorphine is a piperidine-based opioid analgesic compound. Brorphine was originally discovered in a 2018 paper investigating functionally biased opioid compounds, with the intention of finding safer analgesics that produce less respiratory depression than typical opioids. Brorphine was originally reported to be highly biased, with an EC50 of 4.8nM for GTPγS binding and 182nM for β-arrestin recruitment, however a more recent study found no significant bias for any of the compounds tested, including brorphine. Its safety profile in any animal model has never been established. Despite the lack of safety information on the compound, brorphine has been sold as a designer drug since mid-2019, initially being identified in the US Midwest, though it has since been found in 2020 in Belgium. It is related in chemical structure to compounds such as benzylfentanyl and bezitramide, though it is sufficiently structurally distinct to fall outside the formal definition of a "fentanyl analogue" in jurisdictions such as the US and New Zealand which have Markush structure controls over this family of drugs.
4'-Chlorodeschloroalprazolam is a triazolobenzodiazepine derivative which has been sold as a designer drug, presumably with sedative effects, first identified in Australia and the US in 2021, and subsequently in Ireland.
