A designer drug is a structural or functional analog of a controlled substance that has been designed to mimic the pharmacological effects of the original drug, while avoiding classification as illegal and/or detection in standard drug tests. Designer drugs include psychoactive substances that have been designated by the European Union, Australia, and New Zealand, as new psychoactive substances (NPS) as well as analogs of performance-enhancing drugs such as designer steroids.
Butylone, also known as β-keto-N-methylbenzodioxolylbutanamine (βk-MBDB), is an entactogen, psychedelic, and stimulant psychoactive drug of the phenethylamine, amphetamine, phenylisobutylamine, and cathinone families. It is the β-keto analogue of MBDB and the substituted methylenedioxyphenethylamine analogue of buphedrone.
Substituted phenethylamines are a chemical class of organic compounds that are based upon the phenethylamine structure; the class is composed of all the derivative compounds of phenethylamine which can be formed by replacing, or substituting, one or more hydrogen atoms in the phenethylamine core structure with substituents. Phenylethylamines are also generally found to be central nervous system stimulants with many also being entactogens/empathogens, and hallucinogens.
α-Pyrrolidinopentiophenone (α-PVP), also known as α-pyrrolidinovalerophenone, O-2387, β-keto-prolintane, prolintanone, or desmethylpyrovalerone, is a synthetic stimulant of the cathinone class developed in the 1960s that has been sold as a designer drug and often consumed for recreational reasons. α-PVP is chemically related to pyrovalerone and is the ketone analog of prolintane.
Substituted cathinones, or simply cathinones, which include some stimulants and entactogens, are derivatives of cathinone. They feature a phenethylamine core with an alkyl group attached to the alpha carbon, and a ketone group attached to the beta carbon, along with additional substitutions. Cathinone occurs naturally in the plant khat whose leaves are chewed as a recreational drug.
Eutylone is a stimulant and empathogenic drug of the phenethylamine, amphetamine, phenylisobutylamine, and cathinone families which was 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.
Benzedrone (4-MBC) is a designer drug which has been found since 2010 as an ingredient in a number of "bath salt" mixes sold as recreational drugs.
Bath salts are a group of recreational designer drugs. The name derives from instances in which the drugs were disguised as bath salts. The white powder, granules, or crystals often resemble Epsom salts, but differ chemically. The drugs' packaging often states "not for human consumption" in an attempt to circumvent drug prohibition laws. Additionally, they may be described as "plant food", "powdered cleaner", or other products.
N-Ethylbuphedrone is a stimulant of the cathinone class that has been sold as a designer drug. It is the β-ketone analogue of N,alpha-diethylphenylethylamine.
3-Methylmethcathinone (3-MMC), also known as metaphedrone, is a designer drug from the substituted cathinone family. 3-MMC is a monoamine transporter substrate that potently releases and inhibits the reuptake of dopamine and norepinephrine, as well as displaying moderate serotonin releasing activity.
Mexedrone is a stimulant and an entactogen drug of the cathinone class that has been sold online as a designer drug. It is the alpha-methoxy derivative of Mephedrone.
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.
α-PCyP (α-PyrrolidinoCyclohexanoPhenone) is a stimulant drug of the cathinone class that has been sold online as a designer drug. In a series of alpha-substituted pyrrolidinyl cathinone derivatives developed in 2015, the alpha-cyclopentyl derivative was found to have around the same potency in vitro as an inhibitor of the dopamine transporter as the alpha-propyl derivative α-PVP, while the alpha-cyclohexyl derivative α-PCyP was around twice as strong.
TH-PVP is a substituted cathinone derivative which has been sold as a designer drug. It was first identified by a forensic laboratory in Hungary in 2015, but has subsequently been found in numerous other countries around the world including Spain, Belgium, Poland, Turkey and Brazil.
4-Ethyl-alpha-Pyrrolidinovalerophenone (4-Et-PVP) is a recreational designer drug from the substituted cathinone family, with stimulant effects. It was first identified in Hungary in March 2019.
N,N-Dimethylpentylone is a substituted cathinone derivative with stimulant effects, which has been sold as a designer drug, first detected in Sweden in 2014.
MFPVP (3-Methyl-4-fluoro-α-pyrrolidinovalerophenone) is a recreational designer drug from the substituted cathinone family, with stimulant effects. It was first identified in Sweden in April 2020 and was among the most widely encountered substituted cathinone derivatives in 2021, though it since appears to have declined in prevalence. It is illegal in Virginia.
N-Ethylheptylone (HEP) is a recreational designer drug from the substituted cathinone family, with stimulant effects. It is a homologue of related drugs such as ethylone, eutylone, ephylone and N-ethylhexylone but with a longer pentyl side chain. It was first reported in Sweden in 2019.
3-Fluoro-N-ethylbuphedrone (3F-NEB) is a substituted cathinone derivative with stimulant effects which has been sold as a designer drug. It was first identified in Sweden in 2021.
MDPEP is a substituted cathinone derivative with stimulant effects which has been sold as a designer drug. It is the longer chain heptyl homologue of the well known stimulant designer drugs MDPV and MDPHP. It was first identified in Sweden in 2019 and has been relatively widely sold, being the most commonly encountered substituted cathinone derivative found in the US in 2020–2021, though it has still not reached the same levels of use internationally as MDPV and MDPHP.
