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| Other names | NOHA; HOT-A; AMPH-OH |
| Drug class | Stimulant |
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| Formula | C9H13NO |
| Molar mass | 151.209 g·mol−1 |
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N-Hydroxyamphetamine (NOHA), also known as AMPH-OH, is a stimulant drug of the amphetamine family. [1] [2] [3] It is the N-hydroxy derivative of amphetamine and has similar potency in terms of stimulant-like activity in animals. [1] [3] NOHA is a known metabolite of amphetamine [4] [5] and may be a prodrug of amphetamine. [1] [2] It has been encountered as a novel designer drug. [6] [7]
In drug discrimination tests in rats, both N-ethyl and N-hydroxy amphetamine gave complete substitution in (+)-amphetamine-trained rats (Glennon et al., 1988). [...] Note that tertiary amine congeners may be N-dealkylated in vivo to generate secondary amines, which are inherently more potent. [...] In a study of the analgesic and psychopharmacological effects of a series of N-alkylated MDA derivatives, Braun et al. (1980) reported that only the N-methyl, N-ethyl, and N-hydroxy compounds were active. However, evidence suggests that the N-hydroxy compound may be reduced metabolically to MDA, a process known to occur with the N-hydroxy derivative of PCA (Fuller et al., 1974).
The latter compound, the N-hydroxy, in all probability serves merely as a prodrug for MDA, being metabolically reduced to the primary amine, as has been observed for para-chloramphetamine (PCA) (Fuller et al. 1974). [...] The N-hydroxy analog of AMPH (i.e., N-OH AMPH), a metabolite of AMPH, also produces AMPH-like effects and is about twice as potent as AMPH (table 2). [...] Although N-hydroxy-p-chloroamphetamine did deplete serotonin, it was metabolized rapidly and almost quantitatively to p-chloroamphetamine (Fuller et al. 1974).
Indeed, others have previously reported that N-OH amphetamine produces amphetamine-like behavioral effects and that, in some assays, it is at least as potent as amphetamine [2,18].
Amphetamine undergoes further metabolic changes, resulting in the production of para-hydroxyamphetamine (pOH-AMP), 4 (phenylacetone), N-hydroxyamphetamine, and norephedrine (Figure 1).31