ARCHIVE:
February 7, 2003
2,5-dimethoxy-4-bromophenethylamine (2C-B)
Dear Dr. Shulgin:
What is 2C-B? What are its effects? --Brian
Dear Brian:
Let me start by discussing how it got its
name.
The compounds has a chemical name of
2,5-dimethoxy-4- bromophenethylamine. And if you are not a chemist, that is
a hopeless collection of numbers and words. Let me retreat to a little bit
of hand waving
All of the simplest one-ring psychedelics
have one of two molecular skeletons. The first has a separation of the
benzene ring itself from the defining amine group, by just two carbon atoms.
So you have the ring (the phenyl) and the two carbon atoms (two carbons
hooked together is an ethyl) and then the nitrogen atom itself (the amine).
Looking from left to right, you have:
so you have the parent name-sake,
phenethylamine:
phen ethyl amine
The second of the one ring psychedelic
families again has an identical two-carbon separation between the ring and
the nitrogen atom except that there is a third carbon atom attached to that
carbon atom next to the nitrogen. Again, looking from left to right, you
have:
and you have the parent name-sake,
alpha-methyl phenethylamine, or amphetamine:
|
phen |
ethyl |
amine |
| |
(with the right-hand
carbon atom having a
second carbon atom
hanging down) |
|
Be patient with this, as it will all
suddenly pop into place. The two families of simple psychedelics are either
- phenethylamines
- or amphetamines
This entire research world started with
mescaline, which is a phenethylamine. Many of the earliest names were named
as derivatives of mescaline. As the research progressed into more complex
and more potent phenethylamines, it was noted that the amphetamine analogues
were more potent and more aggressive. These were initially named with an "A"
at the end of the initial code. There was TMA, MDA, MDMA, and on and on. As
these became more complex, they deserved short initial identifiers of their
own, and names such as DOM, DOB, DOI, DOET, DOT and on and on. As further
progress was made, it became obvious that the phenethylamines that
corresponded to these amphetamines were indeed less potent but much more
friendly and gentle.
The synthetic psychedelic world developed
from the two (carbon chain) to the three and then back to the two. Since
these latter had the original two-carbon chain, they were given names based
on the identifier of the last letter of the amphetamine prototypes with a
prefix that said, there are only two (not three) carbons in the molecule.
Thus, there appeared 2C-M, 2C-B, 2C-I, 2C-E, 2C-T and on and on. And when
modifications of them were made and found to be active, they were named with
sequential numbers, such as 2C-T-2, 2C-T-7, 2C-T-21, and on and on. Anyway,
that is how 2C-B got its name -- it was the two-carbon analogue of the
extremely potent and long-lived three-carbon amphetamine counterpart, DOB.
And what is its action? It is, in my
opinion, one of the most graceful, erotic, sensual, introspective compounds
I have ever invented. For most people, it is a short-lived and comfortable
psychedelic, with neither toxic side-effects nor next-day hang-over. Its
effects are felt very much in the body, as well as in the mind, and thus it
has found clinical use as a follow-up to MDMA. Once the MDMA has shown you
where your problems are, the 2C-B opens up the emotional, intuitive and
archetypal area of your psyche to help you solve them. It was probably one
of my favorite drugs, back in those yesteryear days when one could explore
one's consciousness with legal immunity.
-- Dr.
Shulgin
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