Pseudophenmetrazine is a

psychostimulant 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 ...

compound of the

morpholine Morpholine is an organic chemical compound having the chemical formula O( C H2CH2)2 NH. This heterocycle features both amine and ether functional groups. Because of the amine, morpholine is a base; its conjugate acid is called morpholinium. Fo ...

class. It is the ''N''- demethylated and '' cis''- configured analogue of

phendimetrazine Phendimetrazine (Bontril, Adipost, Anorex-SR, Appecon, Melfiat, Obezine, Phendiet, Plegine, Prelu-2, Statobex) is a stimulant drug of the morpholine chemical class used as an appetite suppressant. Pharmacology Phendimetrazine functions as a p ...

as well as the ''cis''-configured stereoisomer of phenmetrazine. In addition, along with phenmetrazine, it is believed to be one of the active metabolites of phendimetrazine, which itself is inactive and behaves merely as a

prodrug A prodrug is a medication or compound that, after intake, is metabolized (i.e., converted within the body) into a pharmacologically active drug. Instead of administering a drug directly, a corresponding prodrug can be used to improve how the drug ...

. Relative to phenmetrazine, pseudophenmetrazine is of fairly low potency, acting as a modest releasing agent of norepinephrine ( EC₅₀ = 514 nM), while its (+)-

enantiomer In chemistry, an enantiomer ( /ɪˈnænti.əmər, ɛ-, -oʊ-/ ''ih-NAN-tee-ə-mər''; from Ancient Greek ἐνάντιος ''(enántios)'' 'opposite', and μέρος ''(méros)'' 'part') – also called optical isomer, antipode, or optical ant ...

is a weak releaser of

dopamine Dopamine (DA, a contraction of 3,4-dihydroxyphenethylamine) is a neuromodulatory molecule that plays several important roles in cells. It is an organic compound, organic chemical of the catecholamine and phenethylamine families. Dopamine const ...

(EC₅₀ = 1,457 nM) whereas its (−)-enantiomer is a weak reuptake inhibitor of dopamine (K_i = 2,691 nM); together as a

racemic mixture In chemistry, a racemic mixture, or racemate (), is one that has equal amounts of left- and right-handed enantiomers of a chiral molecule or salt. Racemic mixtures are rare in nature, but many compounds are produced industrially as racemates. ...

with the two enantiomers combined, pseudophenmetrazine behaves overall more as a dopamine reuptake inhibitor (K_i = 2,630 nM), possibly due to the (+)-enantiomer blocking the uptake of the (−)-enantiomer into

dopaminergic Dopaminergic means "related to dopamine" (literally, "working on dopamine"), dopamine being a common neurotransmitter. Dopaminergic substances or actions increase dopamine-related activity in the brain. Dopaminergic brain pathways facilitate d ...

neurons and thus preventing it from inducing dopamine release. Neither enantiomer has any significant effect on

serotonin Serotonin () or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) is a monoamine neurotransmitter. Its biological function is complex and multifaceted, modulating mood, cognition, reward, learning, memory, and numerous physiological processes such as vomiting and vas ...

reuptake or release (both K_i = >10,000 nM and EC₅₀ = >10,000 nM, respectively).

References

{{Phenethylamines Norepinephrine-dopamine releasing agents Phenylmorpholines Substituted amphetamines Stimulants

See also

References