''threo''-4-Methylmethylphenidate (4-MeTMP) is a

stimulant Stimulants (also often referred to as psychostimulants or colloquially as uppers) is an overarching term that covers many drugs including those that increase activity of the central nervous system and the body, drugs that are pleasurable and inv ...

drug related to

methylphenidate Methylphenidate, sold under the brand names Ritalin and Concerta among others, is the most widely prescribed central nervous system (CNS) stimulant medication used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and, to a lesser extent, ...

. It is slightly less potent than methylphenidate and has relatively low efficacy at blocking

dopamine Dopamine (DA, a contraction of 3,4-dihydroxyphenethylamine) is a neuromodulatory molecule that plays several important roles in cells. It is an organic compound, organic chemical of the catecholamine and phenethylamine families. Dopamine const ...

reuptake Reuptake is the reabsorption of a neurotransmitter by a neurotransmitter transporter located along the plasma membrane of an axon terminal (i.e., the pre-synaptic neuron at a synapse) or glial cell after it has performed its function of transm ...

despite its high

binding affinity In biochemistry and pharmacology, a ligand is a substance that forms a complex with a biomolecule to serve a biological purpose. The etymology stems from ''ligare'', which means 'to bind'. In protein-ligand binding, the ligand is usually a mol ...

, which led to its investigation as a possible substitute drug for treatment of stimulant abuse (cf.

nocaine (+)-CPCA (nocaine, 3α-carbomethoxy-4β-(4-chlorophenyl)-''N''-methylpiperidine aka CTDP 31,446 ) is a stimulant drug similar in structure to pethidine (an opioid that possesses NDRI actions) and to RTI-31, but nocaine is lacking the two-carb ...

). On the other hand, several other simple ring-substituted derivatives of ''threo''-methylphenidate such as the 4-fluoro and 3-chloro compounds are more potent than methylphenidate both in efficacy as

dopamine reuptake inhibitor A dopamine reuptake inhibitor (DRI) is a class of drug which acts as a reuptake inhibitor of the monoamine neurotransmitter dopamine by blocking the action of the dopamine transporter (DAT). Reuptake inhibition is achieved when extracellular dopa ...

s and in animal drug discrimination assays.

Legality

4-Methylmethylphenidate was banned in the UK as a

Temporary Class Drug A temporary class drug is a relatively new status for controlled drugs, which has been adopted in some jurisdictions, notably New Zealand and the United Kingdom, to attempt to bring newly synthesised designer drugs under legal control. The controll ...

from June 2015 following its unapproved sale as a

designer drug A designer drug is a structural or functional analog of a controlled substance that has been designed to mimic the pharmacological effects of the original drug, while avoiding classification as illegal and/or detection in standard drug tests. Des ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Methylmethylphenidate, 4- Stimulants Designer drugs 2-Benzylpiperidines Methyl esters Carboxylate esters 2-Piperidinyl compounds

Legality

See also

References