Chemistry:2C-T-2
2C-T-2, also known as 4-ethylthio-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine, is a psychedelic drug of the phenethylamine and 2C families.[1][2][3] It is taken orally.[1]
The drug acts as a serotonin 5-HT2 receptor agonist, including of the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor.[4][5][6][7]
2C-T-2 was discovered by Alexander Shulgin in 1981 and was first described in the scientific literature by Myron Stolaroff in 1990.[8][9][10][1]
Use and effects
In Alexander Shulgin's book PiHKAL (Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved), the dose range is listed as 12 to 25 mg orally and its duration as 6 to 8 hours.[1] Its onset is within 1 hour and peak effects occur after 1 to 2 hours.[1] The effects of 2C-T-2 have been described.[1] Shulgin rated it as one of the "magical half-dozen" most important psychedelic phenethylamines, along with mescaline, 2C-B, 2C-T-7, and others.[1]
Toxicity
A potential risk of neurotoxicity from 2C-T-2 use (and 2C chemical series in general) has been shown in serotonergic and dopaminergic neurons, however the assay used concentrations unlikely to translate to recreational use of the compound (>50 μM). This has also been shown to be magnified in serotonergic-containing cells with combined use of 2C series drugs with alcohol, MDMA, and methamphetamine.[11]
Severe 'intoxication' on 2C series drugs has been observed as behavior that includes: intense hallucinations, agitation, aggression, violence, dysphoria, hypertension, tachycardia, seizures, and hyperthermia.[12]
Interactions
2C-T-2 is metabolized by the monoamine oxidase (MAO) enzymes MAO-A and MAO-B.[12][13] Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) such as phenelzine, tranylcypromine, moclobemide, and selegiline may potentiate the effects of 2C-T-2.[12][13][14] This may result in overdose and serious toxicity.[14][12]
Pharmacology
Pharmacodynamics
| Target | Affinity (Ki, nM) |
|---|---|
| 5-HT1A | 370–1,740 (Ki) 3,000 (EC50) 76% (Emax) |
| 5-HT1B | 858 |
| 5-HT1D | 86 |
| 5-HT1E | 415 |
| 5-HT1F | ND |
| 5-HT2A | 9–40 (Ki) 0.354–80 (EC50) 67–107% (Emax) |
| 5-HT2B | 6–69 (Ki) 130 (EC50) 75% (Emax) |
| 5-HT2C | 14–54 (Ki) 0.0233–3.8 (EC50) 87–107% (Emax) |
| 5-HT3 | >10,000 |
| 5-HT4 | ND |
| 5-HT5A | >10,000 |
| 5-HT6 | 1,362 |
| 5-HT7 | 969 |
| α1A | 17,000 |
| α1B | >10,000 |
| α1D | ND |
| α2A | 230–730 |
| α2B | 982 |
| α2C | 166 |
| β1 | 9,202 |
| β2 | 1,184 |
| β3 | ND |
| D1 | 15,000 |
| D2 | 2,795–5,100 |
| D3 | 1,835–11,000 |
| D4 | >10,000 |
| D5 | >10,000 |
| H1–H4 | >10,000 |
| M1 | >10,000 |
| M2 | >10,000 |
| M3 | 692 |
| M4 | >10,000 |
| M5 | 1,502 |
| I1 | 2,080 |
| σ1 | 3,870 |
| σ2 | >10,000 |
| TAAR1 | 2,200 (Ki) (mouse) 40 (Ki) (rat) 96 (EC50) (mouse) 4,300 (EC50) (rat) >10,000 (EC50) (human) 54% (Emax) (mouse) 86% (Emax) (rat) |
| SERT | 13,000 (Ki) 62,000 (IC50) IA (EC50) |
| NET | >30,000 (Ki) 153,000 (IC50) IA (EC50) |
| DAT | >30,000 (Ki) 332,000 (IC50) IA (EC50) |
| MAO-A | ND (IC50) |
| MAO-B | ND (IC50) |
| Notes: The smaller the value, the more avidly the drug binds to the site. All proteins are human unless otherwise specified. Refs: [15][4][5][6][7][16][17] | |
2C-T-2 acts as a serotonin 5-HT2 receptor agonist, including of the serotonin 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptors.[4][5][6][7] The mechanism of action that produces 2C-T-2's hallucinogenic effects is shown to be most likely a result from action as a serotonin 5-HT2A, 5-HT2B, and 5-HT2C serotonin receptor agonist,[5] a mechanism of action shared by the psychedelic tryptamines and phenethylamines to varying degrees.[6][18] 2C-T-2 has also shown to be a partial agonist of adrenergic receptors.[19]
Chemistry
Synthesis
The chemical synthesis of 2C-T-2 has been described.[1][2]
Analogues
Analogues of 2C-T-2 include 2C-T (2C-T-1), 2C-T-4, 2C-T-7, Aleph-2, and 25T2-NBOMe, among others.[1][2]
History
2C-T-2 was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin in 1981.[8] He discovered its psychedelic effects that same year.[20] The drug was first described in the scientific literature by Myron Stolaroff in 1990.[9] Subsequently, it was described in greater detail in a 1991 publication by Shulgin and colleagues[10] and in his 1991 book PiHKAL (Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved).[1] Following this, 2C-T-2 emerged as a novel designer drug in the 1990s.[8]
Society and culture
Legal status
Argentina
2C-T-2 is also a controlled substance in Argentina as well as 2C-B and 2C-I.[21]
Australia
2C-T-2 is considered a Schedule 9 prohibited substance in Australia under the Poisons Standard (October 2015).[22] A Schedule 9 substance is a substance which may be abused or misused, the manufacture, possession, sale or use of which should be prohibited by law except when required for medical or scientific research, or for analytical, teaching or training purposes with approval of Commonwealth and/or State or Territory Health Authorities.[22]
Canada
As of October 31, 2016, 2C-T-2 is a controlled substance (Schedule III) in Canada.[23]
China
As of October 2015 2C-T-2 is a controlled substance in China.[24]
Finland
2C-T-2 is classified as a narcotic drug in Finland.[25]
Netherlands
The Netherlands became the first country in the world to ban 2C-T-2, and classify it as a hard drug, by law. In April, 1999, 2C-T-2 became a list I drug of the Opium Law.
Sweden
Schedule I in Sweden. 2C-T-2 was first classified 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 April 1, 1999, under SFS 1999:58[26] that made it illegal to sell or possess. The Riksdag added 2C-T-2 to Narcotic Drugs Punishments Act under Swedish schedule I ("substances, plant materials and fungi which normally do not have medical use") as of March 16, 2004, published by Medical Products Agency (MPA) in regulation LVFS 2004:3 listed as 2C-T-2, 2,5-dimetoxi-4-etyltiofenetylamin.[27]
United Kingdom
2C-T-2 and all other compounds featured in PiHKAL are illegal drugs in the United Kingdom.
United States
2C-T-2 is specifically listed as a schedule I substance under SEC. 1152 of S.3187: Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act of 2012.[28]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 Shulgin, Alexander; Shulgin, Ann (September 1991). PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story. Berkeley, California: Transform Press. ISBN 0-9630096-0-5. OCLC 25627628. http://www.erowid.org/library/books_online/pihkal/pihkal.shtml. http://www.erowid.org/library/books_online/pihkal/pihkal040.shtml
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Shulgin Index, Volume One: Psychedelic Phenethylamines and Related Compounds. 1. Berkeley: Transform Press. 2011. ISBN 978-0-9630096-3-0.
- ↑ "Sulfurous Samadhi: Stolaroff's & Well's Study". 6 February 2001. https://erowid.org/chemicals/2ct7/article1/stolaroff.shtml.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Psychedelics and the human receptorome". PLOS ONE 5 (2). February 2010. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0009019. PMID 20126400. Bibcode: 2010PLoSO...5.9019R.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Receptor interaction profiles of novel N-2-methoxybenzyl (NBOMe) derivatives of 2,5-dimethoxy-substituted phenethylamines (2C drugs)". Neuropharmacology 99: 546–553. December 2015. doi:10.1016/j.neuropharm.2015.08.034. PMID 26318099.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Behavioral and neurochemical pharmacology of six psychoactive substituted phenethylamines: mouse locomotion, rat drug discrimination and in vitro receptor and transporter binding and function". Psychopharmacology 231 (5): 875–888. March 2014. doi:10.1007/s00213-013-3303-6. PMID 24142203.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "In vitro structure-activity relationship determination of 30 psychedelic new psychoactive substances by means of β-arrestin 2 recruitment to the serotonin 2A receptor". Archives of Toxicology 94 (10): 3449–3460. October 2020. doi:10.1007/s00204-020-02836-w. PMID 32627074. Bibcode: 2020ArTox..94.3449P.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "New designer drug 2,5-dimethoxy-4-ethylthio-beta-phenethylamine (2C-T-2): studies on its metabolism and toxicological detection in rat urine using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry". Journal of Mass Spectrometry 40 (9): 1157–1172. September 2005. doi:10.1002/jms.890. PMID 16041763. Bibcode: 2005JMSp...40.1157T. "2,5-Dimethoxy-4-ethylthio-β-phenethylamine (2C-T-2) was first synthesized as a new designer drug in 1981 by Alexander Shulgin. In the 1980s, 2C-T-2 was not a common drug of abuse; it started to become popular only in the 1990s after it was mentioned in Shulgin’s compilation ‘PIHKAL’ in 1991, and especially in the late 1990s when it was sold in so-called ‘Smart Shops’ in the Netherlands. It has surfaced in the illicit drug market in the form of tablets containing 2C-T-2 alone or in mixtures with other designer drugs.2,3 During 2000/2001, several fatalities related to another substance of this group were reported.4,5 Because of the increasing problems with 2C-T-2, it was included in the lists of controlled substances of many countries.6".
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Treatment of alcoholism". Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 22 (3): 377. 1 July 1990. doi:10.1080/02791072.1990.10472568. PMID 2286872.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Central nervous system (CNS) activity of two new psychoactive compounds". Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 23 (1): 95–96. January 1991. doi:10.1080/02791072.1991.10472583. PMID 1941371. https://bibliography.maps.org/resources/download/11956.
- ↑ "The neurotoxicity of psychoactive phenethylamines "2C series" in cultured monoaminergic neuronal cell lines" (in en). Forensic Toxicology 38 (2): 394–408. July 2020. doi:10.1007/s11419-020-00527-w. ISSN 1860-8973.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 "2C or not 2C: phenethylamine designer drug review". Journal of Medical Toxicology 9 (2): 172–178. June 2013. doi:10.1007/s13181-013-0295-x. PMID 23494844.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Identification of monoamine oxidase and cytochrome P450 isoenzymes involved in the deamination of phenethylamine-derived designer drugs (2C-series)". Biochemical Pharmacology 73 (2): 287–297. January 2007. doi:10.1016/j.bcp.2006.09.022. PMID 17067556.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Drug-drug interactions involving classic psychedelics: A systematic review". Journal of Psychopharmacology 38 (1): 3–18. January 2024. doi:10.1177/02698811231211219. PMID 37982394.
- ↑ "Kᵢ Database". 16 March 2025. https://pdsp.unc.edu/kidb2/kidb/web/kis-results/index?KisResultsSearch%5Binput_receptors%5D=&KisResultsSearch%5Binput_sources%5D=&KisResultsSearch%5Binput_species%5D=&KisResultsSearch%5Binput_hot_ligands%5D=&KisResultsSearch%5Binput_test_ligands%5D=&KisResultsSearch%5Binput_test_ligands%5D%5B%5D=12944&KisResultsSearch%5Binput_citations%5D=&KisResultsSearch%5BsearchType%5D=&KisResultsSearch%5Bki_val_from%5D=&KisResultsSearch%5Bki_val_to%5D=&KisResultsSearch%5Bcustom_ki_val%5D=.
- ↑ "Interactions of phenethylamine-derived psychoactive substances of the 2C-series with human monoamine oxidases". Drug Testing and Analysis 11 (2): 318–324. February 2019. doi:10.1002/dta.2494. PMID 30188017.
- ↑ "In Vitro Characterization of Psychoactive Substances at Rat, Mouse, and Human Trace Amine-Associated Receptor 1". The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 357 (1): 134–144. April 2016. doi:10.1124/jpet.115.229765. PMID 26791601. https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/74120533/eae6c6e62565b82d46b4d111bbea0f77b9c2-libre.pdf?1635931703=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DIn_Vitro_Characterization_of_Psychoactiv.pdf&Expires=1746838268&Signature=Sy4fJ90yUhxs68314NxYsW5PAaNrBGePRu35WRR4PIF-3YC7Z~sLdnCn5wfqqbLg9bDEGdt~oW55ugMP3D3jgA0BoRI~~GOb0NQOwrtfUEQK1PQs1uuN9qg5Y1ct8z5NsABm44RgtukkwRMdU6fO7OlfIsQ68hOiFk129Ll7UYqldxD2f1xhE2fTTfsxSpb8cMCJzHn7-ItqLdwnAUPFK7WggDIjmY1kCnaHLwIxMwdJCAq8L6DYzSTg7pZkbR8qlou~GXbTPQt~gYpyZTJp5hgW-7V6K5wLlQ7Z2xE7B0f9wEfuc1W1QNafg125Tr-vvAe4LEGKXV58bnn1bpfWKw__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA.
- ↑ "Receptor interaction profiles of novel psychoactive tryptamines compared with classic hallucinogens". European Neuropsychopharmacology 26 (8): 1327–1337. August 2016. doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2016.05.001. PMID 27216487.
- ↑ "Monoamine receptor interaction profiles of 4-thio-substituted phenethylamines (2C-T drugs)". Neuropharmacology. Designer Drugs and Legal Highs 134 (Pt A): 141–148. May 2018. doi:10.1016/j.neuropharm.2017.07.012. PMID 28720478.
- ↑ "2C-T-2". PiHKAL. https://isomerdesign.com/pihkal/notebooks/transcripts/p4/p4.474.pdf.
- ↑ "DECRETO 299/2010 - PODER EJECUTIVO NACIONAL (P.E.N.) Estupefacientes - Actualización de la lista y demás sustancias químicas que deberán ser incluidas en los alcances de la ley 23.737 - Sustitución del anexo I del dec. 722/91. Publicado en: BOLETIN OFICIAL 04/03/2010" (in Spanish). 3 February 2010. http://www.mpf.gov.ar/biblioteca/newsletter/n197/DECRETO_299_2010.pdf.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Poisons Standard October 2015". Federal Register of Legislation. Australian Government, Department of Health, Therapeutic Goods Administration. October 2015. https://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2015L01534.
- ↑ "Canada Gazette – Regulations Amending the Food and Drug Regulations (Part J — 2C-phenethylamines)". Government of Canada, Public Works and Government Services Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada, Integrated Services Branch, Canada. 4 May 2016. http://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2016/2016-05-04/html/sor-dors72-eng.php.
- ↑ "关于印发《非药用类麻醉药品和精神药品列管办法》的通知" (in zh). China Food and Drug Administration. 27 September 2015. http://www.sfda.gov.cn/WS01/CL0056/130753.html.
- ↑ "Valtioneuvoston asetus huumausaineina pidettävistä aineista, valmisteista ja kasveista | 543/2008 | Lainsäädäntö | Finlex". http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/2008/20080543.
- ↑ "Förordning (1999:58) om förbud mot vissa hälsofarliga varor". http://www.notisum.se/rnp/sls/fakta/a9990058.HTM.
- ↑ "Läkemedelsverkets författningssamling" (in sv). lakemedelsverket.se. https://lakemedelsverket.se/upload/lvfs/LVFS_2004-3.pdf.
- ↑ "21 U.S. Code § 812 - Schedules of controlled substances" (in en). https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/21/812.
External links
- 2C-T-2 - Isomer Design
- 2C-T-2 - PsychonautWiki
- 2C-T-2 - Erowid
- 2C-T-2 - PiHKAL - Erowid
- 2C-T-2 - PiHKAL - Isomer Design
- 2C-T-2: Potential Therapeutic Alternative to MDMA? - Tripsitter
- Sulfurous Samadhi: An Investigation of 2C-T-2 & 2C-T-7 - Erowid
