Phenethylamines share a simple core: a benzene ring attached to a two-carbon chain that ends in a nitrogen. Tryptamines have the same chain but hang it on an indole ring instead. Mescaline, 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine, is the classic psychedelic of this family, and a review notes that as a phenethylamine it also produces sympathomimetic, fight-or-flight effects on the body (Dinis-Oliveira et al., 2019).
Pharmacologists use the split to sort classic psychedelics. A 2011 review separates the phenylalkylamines, such as mescaline, from the indoleamines, such as LSD and psilocybin, and notes that the phenylalkylamines are selective for 5-HT2 receptors while the indoleamines are relatively non-selective across serotonin receptors (Halberstadt and Geyer, 2011).
The family is broad and includes the body’s own messengers and many stimulants, so the name says nothing about effects or safety on its own. Phenylethylamine itself is one of the amines that the enzyme Julius Axelrod described in 1961 could methylate (Axelrod, 1961).
Sources
- Dinis-Oliveira et al., 2019, Current Molecular Pharmacology
- Halberstadt and Geyer, 2011, Neuropharmacology
- Axelrod, 1961, Science
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