Synthesis, identification, and acute toxicity of some N-alkyl derivatives of 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine

A series of N-alkyl derivatives of 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) was prepared in an effort to characterize these potential drugs of abuse. These secondary amines were synthesized via reductive amination of the corresponding ketone with alkylamines. The ultraviolet absorption spectra for these compounds produced almost equally intense absorbance at 234 and 285 nm. The compounds were separated by liquid chromatography using reverse phase (C18) procedures with a ternary mobile phase mixture. Toxicity studies showed all of the compounds to have LD50 values similar to N-methyl MDA (MDMA).