5-HT 2 receptor binding, functional activity and selectivity in N-benzyltryptamines

Abstract

© 2019 Toro-Sazo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The last fifteen years have seen the emergence and overflow into the drug scene of “superpotent” N-benzylated phenethylamines belonging to the “NBOMe” series, accompanied by numerous research articles. Although N-benzyl substitution of 5-methoxytryptamine is known to increase its affinity and potency at 5-HT 2 receptors associated with psychedelic activity, N-benzylated tryptamines have been studied much less than their phenethylamine analogs. To further our knowledge of the activity of N-benzyltryptamines, we have synthesized a family of tryptamine derivatives and, for comparison, a few 5-methoxytryptamine analogs with many different substitution patterns on the benzyl moiety, and subjected them to in vitro affinity and functiona