EA-3443 is a potent and long lasting

anticholinergic Anticholinergics (anticholinergic agents) are substances that block the action of the neurotransmitter called acetylcholine (ACh) at synapses in the central and peripheral nervous system. These agents inhibit the parasympathetic nervous sys ...

deliriant Deliriants are a subclass of hallucinogen. The term was coined in the early 1980s to distinguish these drugs from psychedelics and dissociatives such as LSD and ketamine, respectively, due to their primary effect of causing delirium, as oppose ...

drug, related to the

chemical warfare agent A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as a ...

3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate 3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB) (IUPAC name 1-azabicyclo .2.2ctan-3-yl hydroxy(diphenyl)acetate; US Army code EA-2277; NATO code BZ; Soviet code Substance 78) is an odorless and bitter-tasting military incapacitating agent.QNB: Incapacitating Age ...

(QNB). It was developed under contract to

Edgewood Arsenal Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) (sometimes erroneously called Aberdeen Proving ''Grounds'') is a U.S. Army facility located adjacent to Aberdeen, Harford County, Maryland, United States. More than 7,500 civilians and 5,000 military personnel work a ...

during the 1960s as part of the US military chemical weapons program, during research to improve upon the properties of earlier agents such as QNB. The main advantages of EA-3443 were not only increased potency over QNB, but also a significantly improved central to peripheral effects ratio. Anticholinergic drugs produce both incapacitating deliriant effects through action in the brain, and a variety of distinctive physical symptoms such as dry mouth, dilated pupils, blurred vision and hot flushed skin, all of which together comprise the "anticholinergic syndrome" which is generally easy for doctors to diagnose. EA-3443 however is mainly selective for the brain, and when administered in a narrow dose range of around 0.3 mg can produce the central effects of confusion, hallucinations and amnesia, but without producing significant physical symptoms, which was predicted to make poisoning with EA-3443 much more difficult to diagnose and treat. However, despite these advantages, EA-3443 was never researched to the same extent as QNB or manufactured in bulk, and research into EA-3443 was discontinued along with the rest of the US chemical weapons program in the mid-1970s.

References

Deliriants Muscarinic antagonists Incapacitating agents Piperidines Phenylcyclopentylglycolate esters {{hallucinogen-stub

See also

References