Spectrophotometric and liquid chromatographic identification of 3,4-methylenedioxyphenylisopropylamine and its N-methyl and N-ethyl homologs.

Abstract

3,4-Methylenedioxyphenylisopropylamine (MDA) is an hallucinogenic drug that somewhat resembles lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in its effects. Recently, widespread abuse of the N-methyl homolog (MDMA) of MDA has led to federal control. This article reports on the synthesis of the N-ethyl homolog (MDEA) of MDA as well as spectrophotometric and chromatographic methods for identification of the 3 homologs.