ALPHA, also known as 3,4-methylenedioxy-α-ethylbenzylamine, is a

psychoactive drug A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, mind-altering drug, consciousness-altering drug, psychoactive substance, or psychotropic substance is a chemical substance that alters psychological functioning by modulating central nervous system acti ...

of the substituted benzylamine group and a

positional isomer In chemistry, a structural isomer (or constitutional isomer in the IUPAC nomenclature) of a compound is a compound that contains the same number and type of atoms, but with a different connectivity (i.e. arrangement of bonds) between them. The ...

of 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA).MDA Entry in ''PIHKAL''
/ref> It is also a benzylamine analogue of 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA). ALPHA was first synthesized by

Alexander Shulgin Alexander Theodore "Sasha" Shulgin (June 17, 1925 – June 2, 2014) was an American biochemist, broad researcher of synthetic psychoactive compounds, and author of works regarding these, who independently explored the organic chemistry and ph ...

. In his book ''

PIHKAL ''PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story'' is a book by Alexander Shulgin and Ann Shulgin published in 1991. The subject of the work is Psychoactive drug, psychoactive phenethylamine Derivative (chemistry), chemical derivatives, notably those that act ...

'' on the MDA page, the threshold dosage is listed as 10mg. At mild threshold dosages (around 10mg) there are eyes-closed "dreams" with some body tingling, at higher doses (up to 140mg) was reported to produce a pleasant, positive feeling. This compound is not

anoretic An anorectic is a drug that reduces appetite, resulting in lower food consumption, leading to weight loss. These substances work by affecting the central nervous system or certain neurotransmitters to create a feeling of fullness or reduce the desi ...

at any dose. Its duration is about 3hours. Very little data exists about the pharmacological properties,

metabolism Metabolism (, from ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the co ...

, and

toxicity Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacteria, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect o ...

of ALPHA. The drug was encountered as a novel

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. ...

by 1996.

References

External links

ALPHA - Isomer Design
Benzodioxoles Benzylamines Designer drugs Drugs with unknown mechanisms of action Psychoactive drugs {{Psychoactive-stub

See also

References

External links