6-APB

Description

Overview

6-APB (6-(2-aminopropyl)benzofuran) is an empathogenic psychoactive compound of the substituted benzofuran and substituted phenethylamine classes. 6-APB and other compounds are sometimes informally called “Benzofury” in newspaper reports. It is similar in structure to MDA, but differs in that the 3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl ring system has been replaced with a benzofuran ring. 6-APB is also the unsaturated benzofuran derivative of 6-APDB. It may appear as a tan grainy powder.  It falls under the category of research chemicals, sometimes called “legal highs. Because 6-APB and other substituted benzofurans have not been explicitly outlawed in some countries, they are often technically legal, contributing to their popularity.

6-APB Succinate Crystal Pharmacology

6-APB is a serotonin–norepinephrine–dopamine reuptake inhibitor (SNDRI) with K_i values of 117, 150, and 2698 nM for the norepinephrine transporter (NET), dopamine transporter (DAT), and serotonin transporter (SERT), respectively.In addition, 6-APB not only blocks the reuptake of these monoamine neurotransmitters but is also a releasing agent of them; that is, it is a serotonin-norepinephrine-dopamine releasing agent (SNDRA). In addition to actions at the monoamine transporters, 6-APB is a potent full agonist of the serotonin 5-HT_2B receptor (K_i = 3.7 nM), with higher affinity for this target than any other site. Moreover, unlike MDMA, 6-APB shows 100-fold selectivity for the 5-HT_2B receptor over the 5-HT_2A and 5-HT_2C receptors It is notably both more potent and more selective as an agonist of the 5-HT_2B receptor than the reference 5-HT_2B receptor agonist, BW-723C86, which is commonly used for research into the 5-HT_2B receptor.^{[citation needed]} Aside from the 5-HT_2B receptor, 6-APB has also been found to bind with high affinity to the α_2C-adrenergic receptor subtype (K_i = 45 nM), although the clinical significance of this action is unknown.6-APB showed little other affinity at a wide selection of other sites

The potent agonism of the 5-HT_2B receptor makes it likely that 6-APB would be cardiotoxic with chronic or long-term use, as seen with other 5-HT_2B receptor agonists such as the withdrawn serotonergic anorectic fenfluramine.