Toxicology Letters
April 15, 2017
Lea Wagmann, Simon D. Brandt, Pierce V. Kavanagh et al.
Tryptamines have emerged as new psychoactive substances (NPS), which are distributed and consumed recreationally without preclinical studies or safety tests. Within the alpha-methylated tryptamines, some of the psychoactive effects of the prototypical alpha-methyltryptamine (AMT) have been described decades ago and a contributing factor of its acute toxicity appears to involve the inhibition of...
Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry
February 1, 2017
Julian A Michely, Simon D. Brandt, Markus R Meyer et al.
23 citations
Derivatives of N,N-diallyltryptamine (DALT) can be classified as new psychoactive substances. Biotransformation and detectability of 5-fluoro-DALT (5-F-DALT), 7-methyl-DALT (7-Me-DALT), and 5,6-methylenedioxy-DALT (5,6-MD-DALT) are described here. Their metabolites detected in rat urine and pooled human liver microsomes were identified by liquid chromatography (LC)-high resolution (HR)-tandem...
Drug Testing and Analysis
2017
Simon D. Brandt, Pierce V. Kavanagh, Geraldine Dowling et al.
16 citations
Many N,N-dialkylated tryptamines show psychoactive properties in humans and the number of derivatives involved in multidisciplinary areas of research has grown over the last few decades. Whereas some derivatives form the basis of a range of medicinal products, others are predominantly encountered as recreational drugs, and in some cases, the areas of therapeutic and recreational use can...
Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis
November 27, 2016
Achim T. Caspar, Simon D. Brandt, Andreas E. Stoever et al.
43 citations
25B-NBOMe and 25C-NBOMe are potent 5-HT2A receptor agonists that have been associated with inducing hallucinogenic effects in drug users and severe intoxications. This paper describes the identification of their metabolites in rat and human urine by liquid chromatography (LC)-high resolution (HR)-MS/MS, the comparison of metabolite formation in vitro and in vivo and in different species, the...
Current Neuropharmacology
November 3, 2016
Julian A Michely, Sascha K. Manier, Achim T. Caspar et al.
36 citations
BACKGROUND: 3-Methoxyphencyclidine (3-MeO-PCP) and 3-methoxyrolicyclidine (3-MeOPCPy) are two new psychoactive substances (NPS). The aims of the present study were the elucidation of their metabolic fate in rat and pooled human liver microsomes (pHLM), the identification of the cytochrome P450 (CYP) isoenzymes involved, and the detectability using standard urine screening approaches (SUSA)...
Drug Testing and Analysis
August 15, 2016
Gavin McLaughlin, Noreen Morris, Pierce V. Kavanagh et al.
23 citations
3‐Methoxy‐2‐(methylamino)‐1‐(4‐methylphenyl)propan‐1‐one (mexedrone) appeared in 2015 and was advertised by UK Internet retailers as a non‐controlled mephedrone derivative (2‐(methylamino)‐1‐(4‐methylphenyl)propan‐1‐one), which was of particular interest to countries who operate generic drugs legislation. This study describes the synthesis and analytical characterization of mexedrone and the...
Neuropharmacology
August 10, 2016
Heather Kang, Pojeong Park, Zuner A. Bortolotto et al.
29 citations
H-MK-801 binding (Ki: 66 nM), implying that it acts at the PCP site of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. It also showed modest activity at dopamine (379 nM) and noradrenaline (841 nM) transporters and at sigma 1 (629 nM) and sigma 2 (722 nM) binding sites. In experiments of extracellular recording of field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) from area CA1 of rat hippocampal...
PLoS One
June 17, 2016
Jason Wallach, Heather Kang, Tristan Colestock et al.
73 citations
1,2-Diarylethylamines including lanicemine, lefetamine, and remacemide have clinical relevance in a range of therapeutic areas including pain management, epilepsy, neurodegenerative disease and depression. More recently 1,2-diarylethylamines have been sold as 'legal highs' in a number of different forms including powders and tablets. These compounds are sold to circumvent governmental...
Drug Testing and Analysis
June 6, 2016
Simon D. Brandt, Pierce V. Kavanagh, Folker Westphal et al.
62 citations
Lysergic N,N-diethylamide (LSD) is perhaps one of the most intriguing psychoactive substances known and numerous analogs have been explored to a varying extent in previous decades. In 2013, N6-allyl-6-norlysergic acid diethylamide (AL-LAD) and (2’S,4’S)-lysergic acid 2,4-dimethylazetidide (LSZ) have appeared on the ‘research chemicals’ / new psychoactive substances (NPS) market in both powdered...
Drug Testing and Analysis
October 12, 2015
Simon D. Brandt, Pierce V. Kavanagh, Folker Westphal et al.
79 citations
1‐Propionyl‐ d ‐lysergic acid diethylamide hemitartrate (1P‐LSD) has become available as a ‘research chemical’ in the form of blotters and powdered material. This non‐controlled derivative of d ‐lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) has previously not been described in the published literature despite being closely related to 1‐acetyl‐LSD (ALD‐52), which was developed in the 1950s. This study...
Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry
October 1, 2015
Julian A Michely, Andreas G. Helfer, Simon D. Brandt et al.
49 citations
N,N-Diallyltryptamine (DALT) and 5-methoxy-DALT (5-MeO-DALT) are synthetic tryptamine derivatives commonly referred to as so-called new psychoactive substances (NPS). They have psychoactive effects that may be similar to those of other tryptamine derivatives. The objectives of this work were to study the metabolic fate and detectability, in urine, of DALT and 5-MeO-DALT. For metabolism studies,...
Drug Testing and Analysis
September 11, 2015
Jason Wallach, Tristan Colestock, Brian Cicali et al.
13 citations
The rise in new psychoactive substances that are available as 'research chemicals' (RCs) remains a significant forensic and legislative challenge. A number of arylcyclohexylamines have attracted attention as RCs and continue to be encountered, including 3-MeO-PCP, 3-MeO-PCE and 3-MeO-PCPr. These compounds are commonly perceived as ketamine-like dissociative substances and are believed to act...
ACS Chemical Neuroscience
July 15, 2015
David E Nichols, M Flori Sassano, Adam L. Halberstadt et al.
81 citations
A series of N-benzylated-5-methoxytryptamine analogues was prepared and investigated, with special emphasis on substituents in the meta position of the benzyl group. A parallel series of several N-benzylated analogues of 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenethylamine (2C-I) also was included for comparison of the two major templates (i.e., tryptamine and phenethylamine). A broad affinity screen at...
Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry
June 24, 2015
Achim T. Caspar, Andreas G. Helfer, Julian A Michely et al.
69 citations
25I-NBOMe, a new psychoactive substance, is a potent 5-HT2A receptor agonist with strong hallucinogenic potential. Recently, it was involved in several fatal and non-fatal intoxication cases. The aim of the present work was to study its phase I and II metabolism and its detectability in urine screening approaches. After application of 25I-NBOMe to male Wistar rats, urine was collected over 24...
Drug Testing and Analysis
June 1, 2015
John D. Power, Pierce V. Kavanagh, John O'Brien et al.
12 citations
2-Amino-1-(4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)ethan-1-one (bk-2C-B) has been recently offered for purchase by a variety of Internet retailers. This substance may be considered a cathinone analogue of the phenethylamine 2-(4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)ethan-1-amine (2C-B) which suggests that it may have psychoactive effects in humans. A test purchase of bk-2C-B was carried out and its identity was...
Drug Testing and Analysis
April 15, 2015
Gavin McLaughlin, Noreen Morris, Pierce V. Kavanagh et al.
32 citations
The structurally diverse nature of the 1,2-diphenylethylamine template provides access to a range of substances for drug discovery work but some have attracted attention as 'research chemicals'. The most recent examples include diphenidine, i.e. 1-(1,2-diphenylethyl)piperidine and 2-methoxydiphenidine, i.e. 1-[1-(2-methoxyphenyl)-2-phenylethyl]piperidine (MXP, methoxyphenidine, 2-MXP) that have...
Journal of Analytical Toxicology
February 19, 2015
Simon Elliott, Simon D. Brandt, Jason Wallach et al.
54 citations
2-Methoxydiphenidine, i.e. 1-[1-(2-methoxyphenyl)-2-phenylethyl]piperidine, also known as 'MXP' or '2-MeO-diphenidine' (or 2-MXP), has been available as a 'research chemical' since 2013 as a purported alternative to the 'dissociative anesthetics' methoxetamine and ketamine. Three deaths which involved the detection of 2-MXP in post-mortem blood and urine were encountered in forensic casework....
Drug Testing and Analysis
October 20, 2014
Gavin McLaughlin, Noreen Morris, Pierce V. Kavanagh et al.
18 citations
The recent occurrence of deaths associated with the psychostimulant cis-4,4'-dimethylaminorex (4,4'-DMAR) in Europe indicated the presence of a newly emerged psychoactive substance on the market. Subsequently, the existence of 3,4-methylenedioxy-4-methylaminorex (MDMAR) has come to the authors' attention and this study describes the synthesis of cis- and trans-MDMAR followed by extensive...
Drug Testing and Analysis
July 15, 2014
Jason Wallach, Pierce V. Kavanagh, Gavin McLaughlin et al.
26 citations
Substances with the diphenylethylamine nucleus represent a recent addition to the product catalog of dissociative agents sold as 'research chemicals' on the Internet. Diphenidine, i.e. 1-(1,2-diphenylethyl)piperidine (1,2-DEP), is such an example but detailed analytical data are less abundant. The present study describes the synthesis of diphenidine and its most obvious isomer,...
Drug Testing and Analysis
July 1, 2014
Simon D. Brandt, Leslie A. King, Michael Evans‐brown
164 citations
This special issue provides a multidisciplinary snapshot of recent developments of the broader, arguably phenomenal, changes to the drug market that have occurred in the past decade related to the rise of the new drug phenomenon. This change is largely a result of the growing commodification by entrepreneurs, and increasingly, by criminal groups, of a huge range of psychoactive substances not...
Drug Testing and Analysis
May 19, 2014
Simon D. Brandt, Michael H. Baumann, John S. Partilla et al.
37 citations
During the second half of 2013, a total of 26 deaths involving para-methyl-4-methylaminorex (4,4'-DMAR) were reported to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. While aminorex and 4-methylaminorex (4-MAR) are known psychostimulants, nothing is known about the comparatively new para-methyl analog. Analytical characterization of two independent samples obtained from online...
Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry
2014
Markus R Meyer, Achim T. Caspar, Simon D. Brandt et al.
39 citations
The first synthetic tryptamines have entered the designer drug market in the late 1990s and were distributed as psychedelic recreational drugs. In the meantime, several analogs have been brought onto the market indicating a growing interest in this drug class. So far, only scarce analytical data were available on the detectability of tryptamines in human biosamples. Therefore, the aim of the...
Drug Testing and Analysis
September 20, 2013
Tomás Herraiz, Simon D. Brandt
25 citations
5-(2-Aminopropyl)indole (5-IT) is a psychoactive compound that has recently been associated with several fatal and non-fatal intoxications in a number of European countries. There are indications that acute effects may include symptoms of monoaminergic (e.g. serotonin) toxicity and one mechanism involved in the increase of serotonin levels includes the inhibition of monoamine oxidase. This...
Drug Testing and Analysis
August 15, 2013
Leslie A. King, István Ujváry, Simon D. Brandt
8 citations
The concept of a 'derivative' is used widely in chemistry, where its precise meaning depends on the circumstances. However, numerous examples of derivative also occur in domestic drugs legislation, some of which stem from the 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. There is a commonly held view that only 'first-order' derivatives should be considered: substances that can be...
Journal of Analytical Toxicology
April 3, 2013
Giorgia de Paoli, Simon D. Brandt, Jason Wallach et al.
30 citations
Three psychoactive arylcyclohexylamines, advertised as "research chemicals," were obtained from an online retailer and characterized by gas chromatography ion trap electron and chemical ionization mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and diode array detection. The three phencyclidines were identified as 2-(ethylamino)-2-(3-methoxyphenyl)cyclohexanone (methoxetamine),...