Α-Methyltryptamine

Use and effects

Under the brand name Indopan or Indopane, αMT at doses of 5 to 10mg was used for an antidepressant effect.

At a dose of 20 mg, it produces euphoria, while doses above 30 mg result in strong hallucinogenic effects. At doses over 30 mg, the compound may cause several side effects, including anxiety, muscle tightness, vomiting, and hyperthermia. A dose exceeding 40mg is generally considered strong. In rare cases or extreme doses, the duration of effects might exceed 24hours. Users report that αMT in freebase form is smoked, with doses between and 2 and 5mg.

A dose of 20mg of αMT is said to be equivalent to 50μg of LSD. However, its onset of action is delayed, with effects appearing after only 3 to 4hours, and it is longer-lasting. In addition, αMT is described as unpleasant compared to LSD, with symptoms of nervousness, irritability, restlessness, and inability to relax. It is also said to not have prominent visual effects.

Side effects

Neurologic side effects of αMT include agitation, restlessness, confusion, and lethargy. Physical manifestations including vomiting, mydriasis (pupillary dilation), jaw clenching, tachycardia, salivation, diaphoresis (sweating), and elevations in blood pressure, temperature, and respiratory rate.

Side effects self-reported by recreational users include anxiety, muscle tension, jaw tightness, pupil dilation, tachycardia, headaches, nausea, and vomiting, as well as psychedelic effects including visual hallucinations and an altered state of mind.

αMT is capable of causing life-threatening side effects including hyperthermia, hypertension, and tachycardia. Fatalities have been reported in association with high doses or concomitant use of other drugs.

Fatalities verified with toxicology and autopsy include those of a 22-year-old man in Miami-Dade County, Florida and a British teenager, both of whom died after consuming 1g of αMT.

Interactions

Pharmacology

Pharmacodynamics

αMT acts as a relatively balanced reuptake inhibitor and releasing agent of the main three monoamines; serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, and as a non-selective serotonin receptor agonist. It has relatively weak psychedelic-like effects in animals compared to other psychedelic substituted tryptamines, for instance in terms of the head-twitch response in rodents.

Monoamine oxidase inhibition

αMT has been shown as a reversible inhibitor of the enzyme monoamine oxidase (MAO) in vitro and in vivo. In rats, the potency of αMT as an MAO-A inhibitor in the brain was approximately equal to that of harmaline at equimolar doses. Dextroamphetamine did not enhance the 5-hydroxytryptophan-induced rise of serotonin at any level. The of αMT for inhibition of MAO-A has been found to be 380nM. This is similar to that of agents like para-methoxyamphetamine (PMA) and 4-methylthioamphetamine (4-MTA).

Serotonergic neurotoxicity

A close analogue of αMT, α-ethyltryptamine (αET), is known to be a serotonergic neurotoxin similarly to MDMA and para-chloroamphetamine (PCA).

Pharmacokinetics

2-Oxo-αMT, 6-hydroxy-αMT, 7-hydroxy-αMT, and 1′-hydroxy-αMT were detected as metabolites of αMT in male Wistar rats.

Chemistry

αMT is a synthetic substituted tryptamine with a methyl substituent at the alpha carbon. This alpha substitution makes it a relatively poor substrate for monoamine oxidase A, thereby prolonging αMT's half-life, allowing it to reach the brain and enter the central nervous system. Its chemical relation to tryptamine is analogous to that of amphetamine to phenethylamine, amphetamine being α-methylphenethylamine. αMT is closely related to the neurotransmitter serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) which partially explains its mechanism of action.

Synthesis

The chemical synthesis of αMT has been described. Its synthesis can be accomplished through several different routes, there's two "common" routes mainly via the Henry reaction aka Nitroadol condensation between indole-3-carboxaldehyde and nitroethane under amine salt or ionic liquid catalysis which produces 1-(3-indolyl)-2-nitropropene-1, 1-(3-indolyl)-2-nitropropene-1 can subsequently be reduced via a reducing agent such as lithium aluminum hydride The alternative synthesis is the condensation between indole-3-acetone and hydroxylamine, followed by reduction of the obtained ketoxime with lithium aluminum hydride.

Analogues

Many analogues of αMT are known, including α-ethyltryptamine (αET), α-propyltryptamine (αPT), 4-methyl-αMT, 5-chloro-αMT (PAL-542), 5-fluoro-αMT (PAL-544), 5-fluoro-αET (PAL-545), 5-methoxy-αMT (5-MeO-αMT), α,N-dimethyltryptamine (α,N-DMT; N-methyl-αMT), α,N,N-trimethyltryptamine (α,N,N-TMT; N-dimethyl-αMT), α-methylserotonin (α-methyl-5-HT; 5-hydroxy-αMT), and indolylpropylaminopentane (IPAP; α,N-dipropyltryptamine or α,N-DPT), among others. Another analogue of αMT is the β-keto and N-methylated derivative BK-NM-AMT.

α-Methyltryptophan, a prodrug of α-methylserotonin, also metabolizes into αMT, but only in small amounts.

There are seven possible positional isomers of aminopropylindole (API; IT), wherein the side chain is located at different positions of the indole ring system. These positional isomers include 1-API (α-methylisotryptamine; isoAMT; PAL-569), 2-API, 3-API (3-IT; α-methyltryptamine; AMT; PAL-17), 4-API, 5-API (5-IT; 3,4-pyrrolo[b]amphetamine; PAL-571), 6-API, and 7-API. 3-API or AMT is an α-alkyltryptamine, 1-API or isoAMT is an isotryptamine, and 4-API, 5-API, 6-API, and 7-API are all amphetamines.

The analogue of AMT without the benzene part of the indole ring is 3-pyrrolylpropylamine.

History

αMT has been said to have been first synthesized in 1947, alongside α-ethyltryptamine (αET). However, other sources suggest that αMT was first described in the scientific literature by at least 1929. It was specifically described as an antagonist of ergotamine at this time.

αMT started to be more intensively studied, along with αET, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was researched by Upjohn (code name U-14,164E) and Sandoz (code name IT-290) as a possible pharmaceutical drug and was simultaneously marketed in the Soviet Union as an antidepressant under the brand name Indopan or Indopane in the 1960s. However, the drug was used clinically for only a short period of time before being withdrawn.

αMT started being used as a recreational drug in the 1960s and use as a designer drug increased in the 1990s. It became a controlled substance in the United States in 2003.

Society and culture

Names

αMT never received a formal generic name. In the scientific literature, it has been referred to as α-methyltryptamine or alpha-methyltryptamine (abbreviated as α-MT, αMT, or AMT). αMT has also been referred to by developmental code names including IT-290 (Sandoz), NSC-97069, PAL-17, Ro 3-0926, and U-14,164E (Upjohn). In the Soviet Union, the drug was merely referred to by its brand name Indopan or Indopane. Other synonyms of αMT include 3-(2-aminopropyl)indole and 3-IT. (+)-αMT has been referred to by the code name IT-403.

Legal status

Australia

The 5-methoxy analogue, 5-MeO-αMT is schedule 9 in Australia and αMT would be controlled as an analogue of this.

Austria

αMT is placed under Austrian law (NPSG) Group 6.

Canada

AMT is not an explicitly nor implicitly controlled substance in Canada as of 2025.

China

As of October 2015 αMT is a controlled substance in China.

Denmark

In Denmark (2010), the Danish Minister for the Interior and Health placed αMT to their lists of controlled substances (List B).

Finland

AMT, alfa-methyltryptamine, is a controlled drug in Finland.

Germany

αMT is listed under the Narcotics Act in schedule 1 (narcotics not eligible for trade and medical prescriptions) in Germany.

Hungary

αMT was controlled on the Schedule C list in Hungary in 2013.

Lithuania

In Lithuania (2012), αMT is controlled as a tryptamine derivative put under control in the 1st list of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances which use is prohibited for medical purposes.

Slovakia

αMT was placed in 2013 on the List of Hazardous Substances in Annex, § 2 in Slovakia.

Slovenia

αMT appeared on the Decree on Classification of Illicit Drugs in Slovenia (2013).

Spain

αMT is legal in Spain.

Sweden

Sveriges riksdags health ministry Statens folkhälsoinstitut classified αMT as "health hazard" under the act Lagen om förbud mot vissa hälsofarliga varor (translated Act on the Prohibition of Certain Goods Dangerous to Health) as of Mar 1, 2005, in their regulation SFS 2005:26 listed as alfa-metyltryptamin (AMT), making it illegal to sell or possess.

United Kingdom

αMT was made illegal in the United Kingdom as of 7 January 2015, along with 5-MeO-DALT. This was following the events of 10 June 2014 when the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs recommended that αMT be scheduled as a class A drug by updating the blanket ban clause on tryptamines.

United States

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) placed αMT temporarily in schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) on April 4, 2003, pursuant to the temporary scheduling provisions of the CSA (68 FR16427). On September 29, 2004, αMT was permanently controlled as a schedule I substance under the CSA (69FR 58050).

Research

Besides depression, αMT has been studied in people with schizophrenia and other conditions.

Notes

References

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