Recreational drug discovery: natural products as lead structures for the synthesis of smart drugs
Giovanni Appendino, Alberto Minassi, Orazio Taglialatela‐scafati
Natural Product Reports 2014 DOI: 10.1039/c4np00010b (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | MDMA Mescaline |
| Keywords | Recreational drug Internet privacy Natural archaeology Heroin Mephedrone Designer drug Consumption sociology Drugs of abuse Pharmacology Hallucinogen |
| Citations | 65 |
| Key findings | Recreational drugs have increasingly shifted from natural substances to synthetic smart drugs due to regulatory evasion, commercial factors, and internet-facilitated distribution, with most new agents being unfamiliar to chemists and healthcare providers. |
Abstract
Covering: up to December 2013. Over the past decade, there has been a growing transition in recreational drugs from natural materials (marijuana, hashish, opium), natural products (morphine, cocaine), or their simple derivatives (heroin), to synthetic agents more potent than their natural prototypes, which are sometimes less harmful in the short term, or that combine properties from different classes of recreational prototypes. These agents have been named smart drugs, and have become popular both for personal consumption and for collective intoxication at rave parties. The reasons for this transition are varied, but are mainly regulatory and commercial. New analogues of known illegal intoxicants are invisible to most forensic detection techniques, while the alleged natural status and the lack of avert acute toxicity make them appealing to a wide range of users. On the other hand, the advent of the internet has made possible the quick dispersal of information among users and the on-line purchase of these agents and/or the precursors for their synthesis. Unlike their natural products chemotypes (ephedrine, mescaline, cathinone, psilocybin, THC), most new drugs of abuse are largely unfamiliar to the organic chemistry community as well as to health care providers. To raise awareness of the growing plague of smart drugs we have surveyed, in a medicinal chemistry fashion, their development from natural products leads, their current methods of production, and the role that clandestine home laboratories and underground chemists have played in the surge of popularity of these drugs.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on mescaline, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Study of a New Schizophrenomimetic Drug—Sernyl | 1959 | Review | |
| Hallucinogens and Serotonin 5-HT2A Receptor-Mediated Signaling Pathways | 2017 | Review | |
| Hallucinogens in Mental Health: Preclinical and Clinical Studies on LSD, Psilocybin, MDMA, and Ketamine | 2020 | Review | |
| Legal highs: staying on top of the flood of novel psychoactive substances | 2015 | Review | |
| Psychedelic Drugs in Biomedicine | 2017 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 2
Cites 15
- Hallucinogen-like actions of 5-methoxy-N,N-diisopropyltryptamine in mice and rats. Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior 2006
- Developments in harmine pharmacology — Implications for ayahuasca use and drug-dependence treatment Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry June 10, 2012
- Enantiospecific Synthesis and Pharmacological Evaluation of a Series of Super-Potent, Conformationally Restricted 5-HT2A/2C Receptor Agonists Journal of Medicinal Chemistry January 26, 2001
- Characterization of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) EnantiomersIn Vitroand in the MPTP-Lesioned Primate:R-MDMA Reduces Severity of Dyskinesia, WhereasS-MDMA Extends Duration of ON-Time Journal of Neuroscience May 11, 2011
- Nonneurotoxic tetralin and indan analogs of 3,4-(methylenedioxy)amphetamine (MDA) Journal of Medicinal Chemistry February 1, 1990
and 10 more in the library