Journal of Neuroscience
May 11, 2011
Philippe Huot, Tom H. Johnston, Katie D. Lewis et al.
83 citations
The drug MDMA, composed of two mirror-image forms (enantiomers), shows promise for treating Parkinson's disease motor complications. R-MDMA reduced peak-dose dyskinesia severity by 33% at 3 mg/kg and 46% at 10 mg/kg, and cut the duration of disabling dyskinesia by 69% (90 minutes) without changing total ON-time. S-MDMA at 1 mg/kg extended total ON-time by 34% (88 minutes) but worsened dyskinesia. The findings suggest that racemic MDMA's simultaneous antidyskinetic and ON-time-extending effects arise from R-MDMA's action on 5-HT2A receptors and S-MDMA's inhibition of serotonin and dopamine transporters.
Australian Journal of Chemistry
July 4, 2023
Scott R. Walker, Glenn A. Pullella, Matthew Piggott et al.
5 citations
Psychedelic science is a multi-disciplinary field that has recently gained public attention due to high-profile studies on psychedelic-assisted therapy for difficult-to-treat mental health conditions. This Primer Review provides an overview of the chemistry and pharmacology of psychedelics, covering natural, semi-synthetic, and fully synthetic substances. It begins with a summary of important psychedelic classes and their traditional human use dating back to prehistoric times. The review examines ergolines (e.g., LSD), tryptamines (e.g., psilocybin, DMT), phenethylamines (e.g., mescaline, MDMA), arylcyclohexylamines (e.g., ketamine, PCP), and other naturally occurring drugs like muscimol and salvinorin A. Contributions from pioneers Albert Hofmann and Alexander Shulgin are briefly summarized, with references to primary literature.
Australian Journal of Chemistry
July 11, 2023
Katie D. Lewis, Glenn A. Pullella, Han Chern Loh et al.
2 citations
Homochiral (R)- and (S)-MDMA were synthesized in six steps from d- and l-alanine. A copper-catalyzed regioselective ring-opening of an N-tosylaziridine with an aryl Grignard reagent gave high yields and complete regioselectivity. The synthesis preserved configurational integrity, yielding R- and S-MDMA hydrochlorides with enantiopurities greater than 99.5%, confirmed by enantioselective HPLC with fluorescence detection. Applying the same method to make homochiral enantiomers of the α-phenyl analogue UWA-001 failed due to a switch in regioselectivity in the key step.