Identification of N-Methyl-4-(3,4-Methylenedioxyphenyl)Butan-2-Amine, Distributed as MBDB

Abstract

N-methyl-1-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)butan-2-amine (MDP-2-MB, MBDB) is a new homologue of N-methyl-1-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)propan-2-amine (MDMA), which is strictly controlled as a narcotic. As part of our continuous survey on illegal designer drugs in the Japanese market, we found that N-methyl-4-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)butan-2-amine (MDP-3-MB, HMDMA) was being sold as MBDB. As this is the first time that HMDMA has been revealed to be in market distribution, and its physico-chemical data is thus far unreported, we describe the structure elucidation of HMDMA and comparative analysis with related compounds.