methylmethaqualone metabolism

[clubcard]

Can anyone point me at a paper which gives at least some insight into the metabolism of methylmethaqualone. A friend said that their best guess (based on the shorter duration compared to methaqualone) was that the 4-methyl is oxidised and the body can remove it).

I promise I have never had this compound and never intend to - it's just a request because finding information in English is hard and I hoped maybe a study in another country had been carried out.



Many thanks,
CC

 

[sekio]

There's even less research on MMQ then there is on plain methaqualone, you may be out of luck.

Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2013 Jan;51(1):54-7. doi: 10.3109/15563650.2012.758855. Epub 2013 Jan 9.
Acute neurotoxicity associated with recreational use of methylmethaqualone confirmed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.

[...] There are no reports in the accessible scientific literature on the human pharmacology, toxicology, and safety of [methylmethaqualone].

It would not be unreasonable to assume MMQ and methaqualone share similar metabolic fates though, given their close similarity in structure.

Methaqualone's metabolism is already well documented. It is hydroxylated in a whole blunch of places, on both rings & the benzylic methyl.

So it's a good guess that - as you suggested - the newly introduced methyl group on MMQ is also hydroxylated.

Eventually the benzylic alcohols (the 2 ring methyls on MMQ) will get oxidised to acids too, I think.