Methcathinone

Methcathinone /ˌmɛθˈkæθɪˌnoʊn/ (α-methylamino-propiophenone or ephedrone) (sometimes called 'cat' or 'jeff' or 'catnip' or 'M-Cat' or 'intash' ) is a monoamine alkaloid and psychoactive stimulant, a substituted cathinone. It is used as a recreational drug due to its potent stimulant and euphoric effects and is considered to be addictive, with both physical and psychological withdrawal occurring if its use is discontinued after prolonged or high-dosage administration. It is usually snorted, but can be smoked, injected, or taken orally. Methcathinone /ˌmɛθˈkæθɪˌnoʊn/ (α-methylamino-propiophenone or ephedrone) (sometimes called 'cat' or 'jeff' or 'catnip' or 'M-Cat' or 'intash' ) is a monoamine alkaloid and psychoactive stimulant, a substituted cathinone. It is used as a recreational drug due to its potent stimulant and euphoric effects and is considered to be addictive, with both physical and psychological withdrawal occurring if its use is discontinued after prolonged or high-dosage administration. It is usually snorted, but can be smoked, injected, or taken orally. Methcathinone is listed as a Schedule I controlled substance by the Convention on Psychotropic Substances and the United States' Controlled Substances Act, and as such it is not considered to be safe or effective in the treatment, diagnosis, prevention, or cure of any disease, and has no approved medical use. Possession and distribution of methcathinone for the purpose of human consumption is illegal under any/all circumstances in the United States and is either illegal or highly regulated in most jurisdictions worldwide. Methcathinone was first synthesized in 1928 in the United States and was patented by Parke-Davis in 1957. It was used in the Soviet Union during the 1930s and 1940s as an anti-depressant (under the name Эфедрон—ephedrone). Methcathinone has long been used as a drug of abuse in the Soviet Union and Russia. Circa 1994, the United States government recommended to the UN Secretary-General that methcathinone should be listed as a Schedule I controlled substance in the Convention on Psychotropic Substances. In parts of Europe methcathinone is not listed as a dangerous drug. In the United Kingdom it is listed as a Class B drug, but the Home Office is considering reclassifying it as Class A when it is dissolved in water for injection, as amphetamine is. Methcathinone is a beta-keto N-methylamphetamine and is closely related to the naturally occurring compounds, cathinone and cathine. It is also very closely related to methamphetamine, differing by only the β-ketone substituent and differing from amphetamine by both a keto and N-methyl substituent. Its carbon skeleton is identical to pseudoephedrine and methamphetamine. It differs from pseudoephedrine in that the hydroxide beta to the aromatic ring is oxidized to a ketone. Methcathinone possesses a chiral carbon atom, and therefore two enantiomers are possible. When it is made semi-synthetically from pseudo/ephedrine as a starting material, then only a single enantiomer is produced. Given that the chiral center has an alpha hydrogen and adjacent the carbonyl group, the molecule will racemize in solution via an enol intermediate. This process is known as keto–enol tautomerism. Methcathinone production utilizes the oxidation of pseudoephedrine or ephedrine, the former being preferred because of much higher yields achieved. Oxidation of pseudoephedrine to methcathinone requires little chemistry experience, making it (relatively) easy to synthesize. Potassium permanganate (KMnO4) is most commonly used as the oxidant. In clandestine laboratories, synthesizing methcathinone using potassium permanganate is considered undesirable because of the low yields and the high toxicity of this oxidant, however, if done in a proper laboratory using the proper procedures potassium permanganate can be a high-yielding reactant. A method that yields more methcathinone is oxidizing (pseudo)ephedrine with chromium (VI) compounds.