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Solomon H. Snyder, MD; Sanford Unger, PhD; Robert Blatchley, MA; Charles F. Barfknecht, PhD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1974;31(1):103-106.

Abstract

Several different molecular conformations of psychedelic drugs have been proposed to explain the very similar effects of drugs with markedly divergent chemical structures, such as mescaline and d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). In some of these models, the -carbon of methoxyamphetamine psychedelics approximates the asymmetric carbon No. 5 of LSD predicting that the (-) "R" isomer of the methoxyamphetamines should possess greater psychedelic activity than the ( + ) "S" isomer.

The present study reports a comparison of the psychotropic effects of isomers of DOET (2,5-dimethoxy-4-ethylamphetamine) a "psychedelic" methoxyamphetamine, in normal human subjects. The (-) "R" isomer is about four times as potent as the ( + ) "S" isomer, thus specifying the psychoactive conformation of the drug. This clinical study represents a novel approach to determining the molecular conformation of a drug at its receptor site.

Author Affiliations

From the departments of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics and psychiatry and the behavorial sciences, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore (Dr. Snyder); the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Baltimore (Dr. Unger and R. Blatchley); and the College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa, Iowa City (Dr. Barfknecht).

Footnotes

Reprint requests to the Department of Pharmacology, the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 725 N Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD 21205 (Dr. Snyder).

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