nuke
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2004
- Messages
- 4,191
I got in a discussion with a tweaker friend last night over whether pseudoephedrine could be classified as a type of "speed" or not (since other slightly irrelevant chemicals like methylphenidate are often grouped into this too). He said that only amphetamine derivatives with heavy dopaminergic effects should really be classified as speed (d-amp, methamp, and amp for the most part).
Anyway, this discussion got me curious about the structure of these chemicals. Looking them up, I saw the only differences between methamphetamine and pseudoephedrine are the swapped positions of the NH-CH3 and CH3 from the second extended carbon, and the partially oxidized first extended carbon in PE (which is hydrogenized in methamphetamine).
My question is, how do these small changes in structure yield such different psychoactivity (or more generally: how does methamphetamine work opposed to pseudoephedrine in the brain, and why?)?
Anyway, this discussion got me curious about the structure of these chemicals. Looking them up, I saw the only differences between methamphetamine and pseudoephedrine are the swapped positions of the NH-CH3 and CH3 from the second extended carbon, and the partially oxidized first extended carbon in PE (which is hydrogenized in methamphetamine).
My question is, how do these small changes in structure yield such different psychoactivity (or more generally: how does methamphetamine work opposed to pseudoephedrine in the brain, and why?)?