Aminorex

Aminorex is an anorectic stimulant drug of the 2-Amino-5-Aryloxazoline class. It is closely related to the popular drug 4-methyl-aminorex. It was disvered in 1960 by McNeil Laboratories, and was quickly found in 1962 to have an appetite suppressant effect in rats. It was introduced as a prescription anorectic in Germany, Switzerland and Austria in 1965 but was soon withdrawn when a number of occurrences of pulmonary hypertension including a number of fatalities were reported. The drug reappeared as a designer analog of 4-methyl-aminorex in the US during the 1990s. It is, in fact, 4 times stronger than 4-methyl-aminorex and the 4-fluoro analog is listed as four times as potent again as an anorectic (in rats), but is unknown outside the laboratory. Aminorex has been shown to have a locomotor stimulant properties lying midway between dextroamphetamine and methamphetamine.

The simple synthetic routes available mean that future outbreaks of abuse of this drug seem likely. The requirement for highly toxic precursors such as cyanogen bromide making the synthesis of aminorex and its derivatives potentially very dangerous for inexperienced clandestine chemists, has now been superseded with a newer route using cyanate salts which is easier, safer & cleaner. The route has been reported by the DEA in its monthly newsletter Microgram.

Ring-substituted aminorex derivatives have yet to be researched, but seem likely candidates for a new generation of designer drugs since the immediate precursors are legal and can easily be made from substituted benzaldehydes. The risk of pulmonary hypertension would be much lower if, for example, the DOM analogue were made, since the dosage level would be so much lower. However, the MDMA analogue would most likely be quite risky.