α-PHiP (also known as α-PiHP), is a

stimulant Stimulants (also often referred to as psychostimulants or colloquially as uppers) is an overarching term that covers many drugs including those that increase activity of the central nervous system and the body, drugs that are pleasurable and inv ...

drug of the

cathinone Cathinone (also known as benzoylethanamine, or β-keto-amphetamine) is a monoamine alkaloid found in the shrub ''Catha edulis'' (khat) and is chemically similar to ephedrine, cathine, methcathinone and other amphetamines. It is probably the m ...

class that 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. Des ...

. It is a positional isomer of

pyrovalerone (Centroton, 4-Methyl-β-keto-prolintane, Thymergix, O-2371) is a psychoactive drug with stimulant effects via acting as a norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor (NDRI), and is used for the clinical treatment of chronic fatigue or letharg ...

, with the methyl group shifted from the 4-position of the aromatic ring to the 4-position of the acyl chain. In a classic 2006 study of pyrrolidinyl cathinone derivatives by Meltzer et al. at Organix, the alpha-isobutyl derivative of pyrovalerone, O-2494, was found to have the highest potency ''in vitro'' as an

inhibitor Inhibitor or inhibition may refer to: In biology * Enzyme inhibitor, a substance that binds to an enzyme and decreases the enzyme's activity * Reuptake inhibitor, a substance that increases neurotransmission by blocking the reuptake of a neurotra ...

of 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 dopam ...

of the alpha substituted derivatives tested, however it was not until ten years later in July 2016 that α-PHiP was first identified as a designer drug, when it was reported to the EMCDDA by a forensic laboratory in Slovenia.

References

Pyrrolidinophenones Designer drugs Serotonin-norepinephrine-dopamine releasing agents {{nervous-system-drug-stub

See also

References