PeakAL: Protons I Have Known and Loved — Fifty shades of grey-market spectra Stephen J. Chapman* and Arabo A. Avanes * Correspondence to: Isomer Design, 4103-210 Victoria St, Toronto, ON, M5B 2R3, Canada. E-mail:
[email protected] 1H NMR spectra of 28 alleged psychedelic phenylethanamines from 15 grey-market internet vendors across North America and Europe were acquired and compared. Members from each of the principal phenylethanamine families were analyzed: eleven para- substituted 2,5-dimethoxyphenylethanamines (the 2C and 2C-T series); four para-substituted 3,5-dimethoxyphenylethanamines (mescaline analogues); two β-substituted phenylethanamines; and ten N-substituted phenylethanamines with a 2-methoxybenzyl (NBOMe), 2-hydroxybenzyl (NBOH), or 2,3-methylenedioxybenzyl (NBMD) amine moiety. 1H NMR spectra for some of these compounds have not been previously reported to our knowledge. Others have reported on the composition of “mystery pills,” single-dose formulations obtained from retail shops and websites. We believe this is the first published survey of bulk “research chemicals” marketed and sold as such. Only one analyte was unequivocally misrepresented. This collection of experimentally uniform spectra may help forensic and harm-reduction organizations identify these compounds, some of which appear only sporadically. The complete spectra are provided as supplementary data.[1] Keywords: 1H NMR, drug checking, grey markets, research chemicals, phenylethanamines, N-benzyl phenylethanamines, PiHKAL DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.16889/isomerdesign-1 Published: 1 August 2015 Version: 1.03 “Once you get a serious spectrum collection, Nevertheless, an inherent weakness of grey markets is the the tendency is to push it as far as you can.”1 absence of regulatory oversight.