RCs Searching for information regarding a chemical called "ASARONE".

[Rexeh]

[size=+1] ..:: ASARONE ::.. [/size]

1,2,4-trimethoxy-5-propenylbenzene or 2,4,5-trimethoxy-1-benzene.
Material: A chemical related to Mescaline and the Amphetamines found in the roots of sweet flag (Acorus calamus) and Asarum spp.

It is chemically the precusor of TMA-2 (2,4,5-trimethoxy-a-methyl-4,5-methylenedioxyphenylethylamine), a hallucinogen with 18 times the gram potency of Mescaline.

Asarone is converted to TMA-2 in the body by aminization which takes place shortly after ingestion.

Usage: 45-350 mg orally on empty stomach. Individual sensitivity varies widely.

Effects: Simultaneous stimulant, hallucinogen, and sedative. One or another of these traits may be more pronounced depending upon the dose and the individual.

CNS stimulant, antispasmatic.

Contraindications: Should not be taken with MAO inhibitors.

All information I was able to find on erowid. Does anyone know more about such an interesting chemical? TMA-2 was great the only time I had a small amount

-- Peace o/

 

[Kurrupt]

The main clinical symptom of asarone is prolonged vomiting that sometimes lasted more than 15 hours, sounds fun.

 

[sekio]

It's antimuscarinic and a deleriant akin to myrsticin and friends, I would think. "phenethylamines" minus the amines are usually pretty crappy drugs.

Asarone is converted to TMA-2 in the body by aminization which takes place shortly after ingestion.

I don't think that happens. It's converted to the cinnamic acid instead, I think. The theory that your liver can just smack amine groups on whatever comes along is an unsubstantiated rumour, a flight of fancy if you will, proposed by Shulgin.

 

[polymath]

Shulgin and friends report taking up to 70 milligrams of asarone with no noticeable effects. I wouldn't take the allylbenzene -> amphetamine hypothesis that seriously.

 

[Swerlz]

Preparations of the plant Acorus calamus (calamus or sweet flag) (A. calamus) are available via internet trade and marketed as being hallucinogenic. In 2003-2006, the Swedish Poisons Information Centre received inquiries about 30 clinical cases of intentional intoxication with A. calamus products. The present investigation aimed to identify alpha- and beta-asarone, considered active components of A. calamus, and metabolites thereof in urine samples collected in seven of these cases. To further aid the identification of asarone biotransformation products, a calamus oil preparation was incubated with the fungus Cunninghamella elegans, which is used as a microbial model of mammalian drug metabolism. Using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis in selected ion monitoring mode, alpha-asarone was detected in five urine samples at concentrations ranging between approximately 11 and 1150 microg/L and beta-asarone in four of those at approximately 22-220 microg/L. A previously identified asarone metabolite, trans-2,4,5-trimethoxycinnamic acid (trans-TMC), was detected in the fungus broth by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry whereas cis-TMC was tentatively identified in the human urine samples. Using GC-MS, a hydroxylated asarone metabolite was identified both in fungus broth and urine samples. However, this study demonstrated no evidence for the presence of 2,4,5-trimethoxyamphetamine, claimed as a hallucinogenic component of A. calamus. The main clinical symptom reported by the patients was prolonged vomiting that sometimes lasted more than 15 h.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20040135