Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Mar 8.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2017;32:73–92. doi: 10.1007/7854_2016_39

Fig. 1. Structural relationship between AMPH (and related drugs) and synthetic cathinones.

Fig. 1

Cathinone is the beta-keto analog of AMPH and similarly MCAT is the beta-keto analog of METH. Substitutions to the para position of MCAT yields additional synthetic analogs, including mephedrone, methedrone, and flephedrone. The beta-keto analog of MDMA is methylone (or MDMC). Further modifications to methylone results in the potent substituted cathinones MDPV and α-PVP. Abbreviations: AMPH, amphetamine; METH, methamphetamine; MCAT, methcathinone; MDMA, methylenedioxymethamphetamine; MDMC, methylenedioxymethcathinone; MDPV, methylenedioxypyrovalerone; α-pyrrolidinovalerophenone, α-PVP.