Adrenochrome

Adrenochrome, chemical formula C9H9NO3, is a pigment obtained by the oxidation of adrenaline (epinephrine). Adrenochrome monosemicarbazone, also known as carbazochrome, is a hemostatic, meaning it reduces capillary bleeding.

Schizophrenia hypothesis
Studies in the mid-twentieth century have indicated that adrenochrome is metabolized as one of two other substances, dihydroxyindole or adrenolutin. Dihydroxyindole may balance the anxiety and depression effects of adrenaline to reduce tension and irritability. Defective processing of adrenochrome, however, primarily produces the toxic adrenolutin instead, which combines with adrenochrome. The adrenochrome-adrenolutin combination is hypothesized by Dr. Abram Hoffer and Humphry Osmond to result in disruption of the brain's normal chemical processes. This disruption, according to their hypothesis, would be responsible for the symptomatology of schizophrenia. This hypothesis has long been opposed by proponents of the establishment medical industry.

Chemistry
Adrenochrome is synthesized in vivo by the oxidation of epinephrine. In vitro, Ag2O is used as an oxidizing agent (MacCarthy, Chim, Ind. Paris 55,435(1946))

optimum pH of water solution = 4

Psychedelic use
There has been a substantial amount of controversy about whether adrenochrome can be classified as a hallucinogenic drug. Even though adrenochrome induces remarkable psychoactive effects, most researchers agree that an adrenochrome experience does not qualify as a psychedelic one. Psychoactive effects of adrenochrome include euphoria, confusion, changed train of thought, and inability to concentrate. In one study, test subjects compared adrenochrome experience to mild psilocybin and LSD experiences.

Movies and books
Author Hunter S. Thompson mentions adrenochrome in his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. In the book it is derived from a living donor's adrenal gland (removing the gland kills the donor; it cannot be taken from a corpse). As such, it is purported to be very exotic, and very intense: "the first wave felt like a combination of mescaline and methedrine". Thompson reported a significant perceived rise in body temperature that led to paralysis. The adrenochrome scene also appears in the novel's film adaptation. In the DVD commentary, director Terry Gilliam admits that his and Thompson's portrayal is fictional hyperbole.

In the book and film A Clockwork Orange, the drug whose street name is "drencrom" is possibly a reference to adrenochrome.

In the televised Inspector Lewis mystery Whom the Gods Would Destroy (2007), Lewis investigates a series of murders that revolve around the death of a prostitute some 20 years earlier. The prostitute had been murdered by a group of then-Oxford students for the purpose of experiencing the high attained form adrenochrome.

Alex Jones makes reference to "adrenalchrome" [sic] in his documentaries. He is an advocate of the conspiracy theory that this drug is extracted from the pineal gland of "terrified slaves" close to the point of death and used recreationally by members of "secret societies".

Author Aldous Huxley mentions adrenochrome early in his book The Doors of Perception relating it to lysergic acid and mescaline.

Music
The Sisters of Mercy recorded a song called Adrenochrome, which appeared on the album Some Girls Wander By Mistake.