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Other names | Bufotenine; 5-Hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine; 5-HO-DMT; 5-OH-DMT; N,N-Dimethyl-5-hydroxytryptamine; N,N-Dimethylserotonin; Dimethylserotonin; Dimethyl-5-HT; Cebilcin; Mappine |
Routes of administration | Oral, intranasal/insufflation, inhalation, sublingual, rectal, intravenous[1] |
Drug class | Serotonergic psychedelic; Hallucinogen; Serotonin receptor agonist; Serotonin 5-HT2A receptor agonist |
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Pharmacokinetic data | |
Bioavailability | Weakly active (with or without MAOI )[2][1] |
Metabolism | Deamination via MAO-A and conjugation (glucuronidation, sulfation)[3] |
Metabolites | • 5-HIAA[3] • Glucuronide and sulfate conjugates[3] |
Onset of action | PO : 20 min[2][1] IN : 5–15 min[2][1] SL : 5–15 min[2][1] REC : ~15 min[2][1] INH : ≤1–2 min[2][1] IV : <1 min[4] |
Duration of action | PO : ~2 hours[1] IN : 30–90 min[2][1][5] SL : 30–90 min[2][1] REC : ~1 hour[2][1] INH : 60–90 min[2][1] IV : ~5–120 min[2] |
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ECHA InfoCard | 100.006.971 |
Chemical and physical data | |
Formula | C12H16N2O |
Molar mass | 204.273 g·mol−1 |
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Melting point | 146 to 147 °C (295 to 297 °F) |
Boiling point | 320 °C (608 °F) |
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Bufotenin, also known as dimethylserotonin or as 5-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-HO-DMT), is a serotonergic psychedelic of the tryptamine family. It is a derivative of the psychedelic dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and of the neurotransmitter serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT). The compound is an alkaloid found in some species of mushrooms, plants, and toads. It is also found naturally in the human body in small amounts.[6][7][8] Bufotenin, for instance derived from the trees Anadenanthera colubrina and Anadenanthera peregrina, appears to have a long history of entheogenic use in South America.[1][5][9][10]
The name bufotenin originates from the toad genus Bufo, which includes several species of psychoactive toads, most notably Incilius alvarius (formerly Bufo alvarius), that secrete bufotoxins from their parotoid glands.[11] However, Bufo species like Incilius alvarius contain only trace amounts of bufotenin, with their major active component instead being 5-MeO-DMT. In addition to DMT and serotonin, bufotenin is similar in chemical structure to other psychedelics such as 5-MeO-DMT and psilocin (4-HO-DMT). These compounds also occur in some of the same fungus, plant, and animal species as bufotenin.
Bufotenin acts as a potent and non-selective serotonin receptor agonist, including of the serotonin 5-HT1A, 5-HT2A, 5-HT2C, and 5-HT3 receptors, among others.[12][13][7][13][14] It also acts as a potent and specific serotonin releasing agent.[14] The compound is more hydrophilic than other related tryptamines and consequently is more peripherally selective.[12][15] In relation to this, bufotenin has been associated with prominent peripheral serotonergic side effects, such as cardiovascular changes.[12][7][16]
For many decades and even into the present, bufotenin has been considered by many experts, such as David E. Nichols, to be either inactive or only weakly active as a psychedelic in humans and to produce robust toxic effects.[15][2][12][3] Alexander Shulgin was also uncertain whether bufotenin was an active psychedelic.[16][5] However, Jonathan Ott found in 2001 via self-experimentation that bufotenin is in fact a potent psychedelic and does not necessarily produce serious adverse effects.[3][5][2][1] Hamilton Morris has further supported these findings with his own self-experimentation, although bufotenin was reported to be strongly nauseating for himself and many others.[9][5] According to Morris, the psychedelic effects of bufotenin are like a cross between those of DMT and 5-MeO-DMT.[9][5] Morris has stated that bufotenin may in fact be the psychedelic with the longest history of human entheogenic use.[9][5]
Ott2001a
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).ShenJiangWinter2010
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).FabingHawkins1956
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).[Morris:] I've used [bufotenine] a couple times, once at 50 milligrams of the freebase snorted. [...] I found it to be extremely nauseating. I found it to be qualitatively intermediate between 5-MeO-DMT and DMT in that it was more visual than my experiences with 5-MeO-DMT but less visual than my typical experiences with DMT. It had a longer duration than 5-MeO-DMT and maybe even a longer duration than DMT as well. It was about an hour. Although I don't have all that much experience snorting DMT freebase.
NeumannDheinKirchhefer2024
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).[Morris:] Bufotenine is a drug that I have tried. I've tried isolated pure bufotenine and it is a psychedelic that is both pharmacologically and experientially and chemically intermediate between DMT and 5-MeO-DMT. So it has a longer duration than actually both 5-MeO-DMT and DMT. It's yet less visual than DMT but more visual than 5-MeO-DMT, so it's kind of like in-between the two. It's also very nauseating, which is the main reason that people seem not to enjoy it very much. But it is a classical psychedelic drug that produces visionary effects. And Jonathan Ott actually liked the effect of it quite a bit.
McBride2000
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).PlazasFaraone2023
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).BloughLandavazoDecker2014
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).The weaker pKa of psilocin relative to bufotenine means that psilocin is less highly ionized at pH 7.4—that is, 8.5% free base versus 0.53% for bufotenine at pH 7.4. Ionized amines must be unionized and desolvated to cross the blood–brain barrier; the intramolecular H bond in psilocin compensates for that as reflected by the higher lipophilicity of psilocin relative to bufotenine. [...] This would explain why bufotenine is still an agonist at the 5-HT2A receptor but due to its poor physiochemical properties is not psychoactive in humans.
And so it is with bufotenine. Is it an active psychedelic? Absolutely yes, absolutely no, and maybe yes and maybe no. [...] Some clinicians demand that the compound is unquestionably a psychotomimetic and it must be catalogued right up there along with LSD and psilocybin. Others, equally sincere, present human trials that suggest only peripheral toxicity and conclude that there is no central action to be seen. And there are many who state that there are no effects for it at all, either inside or outside the CNS. The psychopharmacological status of bufotenine, like that of Uri Geller, may be essentially unanswerable. [...] A second report carries, at least for me, much more impact. A study of the use of the seeds of a South American legume, Anadenanthera colubrina var. Cebil by the Argentine Shamans in Chaco Central, shows then to be dramatically psychedelic. And yet, extremely sophisticated spectroscopic analysis has shown them to contain bufotenine and only bufotenine as their alkaloid component. At the bottom line, I do not really know of bufotenine is a psychedelic drug. Maybe yes and maybe no.