3-Methoxyeticyclidine (3-MeO-PCE), also known as methoxieticyclidine, is a

dissociative Dissociatives, colloquially dissos, are a subclass of hallucinogens which distort perception of sight and sound and produce feelings of detachment – dissociation – from the environment and/or self. Although many kinds of drugs are capable of ...

anesthetic An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two ...

that is qualitatively similar to PCE and PCP and has been sold online as a

designer drug 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. D ...

. On October 18, 2012 the

Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) is a British statutory advisory non-departmental public body, which was established under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Mandate Its terms of reference, according to the Act, are as follows: '' ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

released a report about

methoxetamine Methoxetamine, abbreviated as MXE, is a dissociative hallucinogen that has been sold as a designer drug. It differs from many dissociatives such as ketamine and phencyclidine (PCP) that were developed as pharmaceutical drugs for use as general ...

, saying that the "harms of methoxetamine are commensurate with Class B of the Misuse of Drugs Act (1971)", despite the fact that the act does not classify drugs based on harm. The report went on to suggest that all analogues of methoxetamine should also become class B drugs and suggested a catch-all clause covering both existing and unresearched arylcyclohexamines, including 3-MeO-PCE. This report also described the receptor binding profile of methoxetamine and three additional dissociatives

3-MeO-PCP 3-Methoxyphencyclidine (3-MeO-PCP) is a dissociative hallucinogen of the arylcyclohexylamine class related to phencyclidine (PCP) which has been sold online as a designer drug. It acts mainly as an NMDA receptor antagonist, though it has also be ...

4-MeO-PCP 4-Methoxyphencyclidine (methoxydine, 4-MeO-PCP) is a dissociative anesthetic drug that has been sold online as a research chemical. The synthesis of 4-MeO-PCP was first reported in 1965 by the Parke-Davis medicinal chemist Victor Maddox. A 1999 r ...

, and 3-MeO-PCE, showing them to have significant affinity for the PCP site of the NMDA receptor (NMDAR) and was later published in more detail. 3-MeO-PCE has K_i values of 61 nM for the NMDAR, 743 nM for the

dopamine transporter The dopamine transporter (also dopamine active transporter, DAT, SLC6A3) is a membrane-spanning protein that pumps the neurotransmitter dopamine out of the synaptic cleft back into cytosol. In the cytosol, other transporters sequester the dop ...

, 2097 nM for the

histamine H2 receptor H2 receptors are positively coupled to adenylate cyclase via Gs. It is a potent stimulant of cAMP production, which leads to activation of protein kinase A. PKA functions to phosphorylate certain proteins, affecting their activity. The drug b ...

, 964 nM for the

alpha-2A adrenergic receptor The alpha-2A adrenergic receptor (α2A adrenoceptor), also known as ADRA2A, is an α2 adrenergic receptor, and also denotes the human gene encoding it. Receptor α2 adrenergic receptors include 3 highly homologous subtypes: α2A, α2B, and α2 ...

, 115 nM for the

serotonin transporter The serotonin transporter (SERT or 5-HTT) also known as the sodium-dependent serotonin transporter and solute carrier family 6 member 4 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SLC6A4 gene. SERT is a type of monoamine transporter protein tha ...

, 4519 nM for the σ₁ receptor, and 525 nM for the σ₂ receptor.

Legal status

3-MeO-PCE is banned in Sweden and Switzerland. As per Chile's Ley de drogas, aka Ley 20000, all esters and ethers of PCE are illegal. As 3-MeO-PCE is an

ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula , where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again be ...

of PCE, it is thus illegal.

References

{{Sigma receptor modulators Arylcyclohexylamines Dissociative drugs O-methylated phenols Designer drugs

Legal status

See also

References