NPDPA (also known as isopropylphenidine or isophenidine) is a

dissociative Dissociatives, colloquially dissos, are a subclass of hallucinogens that 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 t ...

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. ...

. It was first identified in Germany in 2008, and while it has never been as widely sold as related compounds such as

diphenidine Diphenidine (1,2-DEP, DPD, DND) is a dissociative anesthetic that has been sold as a designer drug. Diphenidine was first synthesized in 1924 using a Bruylants reaction similar to the one later employed in the discovery of phencyclidine in 1 ...

and

ephenidine Ephenidine (also known as NEDPA and EPE) is a Dissociative drug, dissociative anesthesia, anesthetic that has been sold online as a designer drug. It is illegal in some countries as a structural isomer of the banned opioid drug lefetamine, but ha ...

, it has continued to show up in seized drug samples occasionally, and was banned in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in 2015.

Metabolism

Isopropylphenidine's

metabolic pathway In biochemistry, a metabolic pathway is a linked series of chemical reactions occurring within a cell (biology), cell. The reactants, products, and Metabolic intermediate, intermediates of an enzymatic reaction are known as metabolites, which are ...

consists of

N-oxidation In chemistry, an amine oxide, also known as an amine ''N''-oxide or simply ''N''-oxide, is a chemical compound that has the chemical formula . It contains a nitrogen-oxygen coordinate covalent bond with three additional hydrogen and/or substitue ...

, N-dealkylation, mono- and bis-hydroxylation of the

benzene Benzene is an Organic compound, organic chemical compound with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecular formula C6H6. The benzene molecule is composed of six carbon atoms joined in a planar hexagonal Ring (chemistry), ring with one hyd ...

ring, and

hydroxylation In chemistry, hydroxylation refers to the installation of a hydroxyl group () into an organic compound. Hydroxylations generate alcohols and phenols, which are very common functional groups. Hydroxylation confers some degree of water-solubility ...

of the

phenyl In organic chemistry, the phenyl group, or phenyl ring, is a cyclic group of atoms with the formula , and is often represented by the symbol Ph (archaically φ) or Ø. The phenyl group is closely related to benzene and can be viewed as a benzene ...

ring only after N-dealkylation. The dihydroxy metabolites were conjugated by

methylation Methylation, in the chemistry, chemical sciences, is the addition of a methyl group on a substrate (chemistry), substrate, or the substitution of an atom (or group) by a methyl group. Methylation is a form of alkylation, with a methyl group replac ...

of one

hydroxy group In chemistry, a hydroxy or hydroxyl group is a functional group with the chemical formula and composed of one oxygen atom covalently bonded to one hydrogen atom. In organic chemistry, alcohols and carboxylic acids contain one or more hydroxy ...

, and hydroxy metabolites by

glucuronidation Glucuronidation is often involved in drug metabolism of substances such as drugs, pollutants, bilirubin, androgens, estrogens, mineralocorticoids, glucocorticoids, fatty acid derivatives, retinoids, and bile acids. These linkages involve gly ...

sulfation Sulfation (sometimes spelled sulphation in British English) is the chemical reaction that entails the addition of SO3 group. In principle, many sulfations would involve reactions of sulfur trioxide (SO3). In practice, most sulfations are effected ...

Legality

Sweden's public health agency suggested that NPDPA be classified as a hazardous substance on 1 June 2015. Due to that suggestion it became a scheduled substance in Sweden, as of 18 August 2015. It has also been proposed for control in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

under analogue provisions, though these have not yet come into force as of 2016.

References

Designer drugs Dissociative drugs NMDA receptor antagonists 1,2-Diarylethylamines Isopropylamino compounds Phenyl compounds Secondary amines {{hallucinogen-stub

Metabolism

Legality

See also

References