3,4-Methylenedioxyphenethylamine, also known as 3,4-MDPEA, MDPEA, and homopiperonylamine, is a

substituted phenethylamine Substituted phenethylamines (or simply phenethylamines) are a chemical class of organic compounds that are based upon the phenethylamine structure; the class is composed of all the derivative (chemistry), derivative compounds of phenethylamine ...

formed by adding a methylenedioxy group to

phenethylamine Phenethylamine (PEA) is an organic compound, natural monoamine alkaloid, and trace amine, which acts as a central nervous system stimulant in humans. In the brain, phenethylamine regulates monoamine neurotransmission by binding to trace ami ...

. It is structurally similar to

MDA MDA, mda or variants may refer to: Businesses and organizations Political parties * Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (2003–2008), in India * Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (2018–present), in India * Movement for Democracy in Africa, in Burkina F ...

, but without the methyl group at the alpha position. According to

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 ...

'', MDPEA appears to be

biological Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

inactive Inactive is a TRPV channel in invertebrates Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including ...

. This is likely because of extensive first-pass

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 ...

by the

enzyme An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...

monoamine oxidase Monoamine oxidases (MAO) () are a family of enzymes that catalyze the oxidation of monoamines, employing oxygen to clip off their amine group. They are found bound to the outer membrane of mitochondria in most cell types of the body. The fi ...

. However, if MDPEA were either used in high enough of

dose Dose or Dosage may refer to: Music * ''Dose'' (Gov't Mule album), 1998 * ''Dose'' (Latin Playboys album) * ''Dosage'' (album), by the band Collective Soul * "Dose" (song), a 2018 song by Ciara * "Dose", song by Filter from the album '' Short ...

s (e.g., 1-2 grams), or in

combination In mathematics, a combination is a selection of items from a set that has distinct members, such that the order of selection does not matter (unlike permutations). For example, given three fruits, say an apple, an orange and a pear, there are ...

with a

monoamine oxidase inhibitor Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) are a drug class, class of drugs that inhibit the activity of one or both monoamine oxidase enzymes: monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) and monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B). They are best known as effective antidepressa ...

(MAOI), it is probable that it would become sufficiently active, though it would likely have a relatively short duration of

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

. This idea is similar in concept to the use of selective MAO_A inhibitors and selective MAO_B inhibitors in augmentation of

dimethyltryptamine Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), also known as ''N'',''N''-dimethyltryptamine (''N'',''N''-DMT), is a Psychedelic drug, serotonergic hallucinogen and Investigational New Drug, investigational drug of the substituted tryptamine, tryptamine family tha ...

(DMT) and

(PEA), respectively. MDPEA produces sympathomimetic effects when administered

intravenously Intravenous therapy (abbreviated as IV therapy) is a medical technique that administers fluids, medications and nutrients directly into a person's vein. The intravenous route of administration is commonly used for rehydration or to provide nutr ...

in dogs. It was about half as potent in this regard as PEA.

References

External links

PiHKAL: #115 MDPEA; 3,4-Methylenedioxyphenethylamine; Homopiperonylamine
Methylenedioxyphenethylamines {{nervous-system-drug-stub

See also

References

External links