Is phenylethylamine the same as amphetamine?

[deadendgame]

I realize that amphetamine has the phenylethylamine backbone and they're essentially the same thing except that amphetamine has an extra methyl. This matters pharmacologically because this makes the half-life of PEA much shorter. Are these two essentially the same thing and would it be worthwhile to pick up some PEA from the diet store or internet? And also, can PEA become amphetamine? Which reagents would be needed? I reckon an SN2 reaction of methyl alcohol would do it, but I don't know.

 

[Memantine]

I'm afraid it's not allowed to discuss the chemistry/synthesis of illegal substances

But yes they are very similar in effect, only te PEA is much more rapidly metabolized. Therefore it would be advisable to take some sort of MAO-B inhibitor with PEA to decrease first-pass metabolism.

 

[Solipsis]

While synth discussion is not allowed I will say that going from PEA to amph would require a C-C bond formation which is not a trivial thing to do, so for all intents and purposes the answer is: no it could not - not readily.

PEA and amphetamine are very similar indeed in that they only differ in that extra alpha methyl, but small differences can have big significance in chemistry!! I'm not even sure phenethylamine has very similar action in the brain, I have tried both and found phenethylamine to be more like a very brief MDAI-like loved up-ness or a very powerful chocolate high, rather than stimulating... there are a lot of factors that would tell us that they are not at all 'essentially the same thing'.

I would try to find other amphetamine surrogates if I were you.

 

[sekio]

I reckon an SN2 reaction of methyl alcohol would do it

I reckon you don't know how SN2 reactions work.

PEA is not "essentially amphetamine" in effects, dosage nor pharmacology and it is not a trivial process to turn it into amphetamine or derivatives. It does have a short lived stimulant effect in high doses but it is a long way away from a drop in amphetamine replacement.

An "extra methyl" can change pharmacology hugely, e.g. cocaine versus benzoylecgonine (one is a stimulant the other is not), codeine and morphine (codeine is ~1/10 the strength of morphine when given IM or ~1/3 orally), or even ethanol and methanol (methanol is much more toxic than ethanol because our body can't handle its metabolites - formaldehyde and formic acid - as well as it can handle the metabolites of ethyl alcohol).

 

[Dresden]

Without discussing chemistry (i.e., necessary reagents), here is a synthetic outline to go from PEA to AMP:

 

[aced126]

Seems overkill as benzaldehyde itself is easier to obtain than PEA.

 

[Dresden]

Benzaldehyde is watched (unless you're buying almond oil at grocery stores, and that stuff is expensive and not pure), but I simply claimed to show a synthetic outline from PEA to AMP, which the OP asked if was possible. I never said it was the easiest, most efficient, or the most direct route.