Don't know much about it except that it's called methcathione, CAT for short,
and it contains a strong base (lye, something like NaOH), battery acid, and
ephinedrine (from diet pills and nasal sprays, etc.)
It does not "contain" those anymore than water "contains" hydrogen. Ephedrine
is the precursor. NaOH and H2SO4 are used in the synthesis to acidify or
basify the solution that you're working with at various stages -- it doesn't
contain NaOH or H2SO4 *PERIOD*.
It may "contain"HCl as a hydrochloride salt, but so does the ephedrine and
pseudoephedrine that you buy over the counter. Of course, I could be wrong.
That's what I learned from watching, believe it or not, The Today Show with
Katie Curic.
Newsgroups: alt.drugs Subject: Methcathinone
Info Methcathinone ("Cat") / Ephedrone ("Jeff").
Initially reported as a street drug in the former USSR as ephedrone1.
Reports of the use of "Jeff" leading to "numerous" overdose deaths were, it
seems, covered up by the former Russian authorities. It has been banned in the USA after several labs were seized in Michigan. It was sold as "Cat",
presumably named after the African shrub Khat (cathaedulis), which contains cathinone 2. Methcathinone is related to cathinone as methamphetamine is related to amphetamine, i.e. byN-methyl substitution. Reliable reports of effects in humans are not known to me. A recent shortletter 4 in the Journal of the American Medical Association seems to me to simply to repeat assertions made in the American popular press. In the letter, it is said that users describe "Cat" as better than cocaine and meth. "Typical" doses are described as 0.5-1g and the effects described as lasting six days.This seems to me to be unlikely. What has been reported may well be equivalent to high dose,
methampheamine abuse on the "speed freak" pattern and is probably *not*
typical. Animal studies 2 suggest methcathinone has ED50 of 1.9uM/kg(0.39mg/
kg), when compared to cocaine's 7.6uM/kg (2.6 mg/kg).
This would make it *more* potent than cocaine by six times in the rat and
suggests the human figure of ten times cocaine potency in the human reported on
USENET as been given on Belgium television is not unrealistic. Indeed, this
would put it in the same range as methamphetamine, which it may well closely
resemble. Personal communication suggests it may well be simply equivalent to
methamphetamine. The bottom line may well be that most CNS stimulants are the
same, whether they be cocaine, methamphetamine, amphetamine, 4-methylaminorex or
methcathinone. Differing the route of administration is likely to have more
effect. Smoking or injecting such drugs leads to rapid build-up of the drug in
the blood stream and an intense "rush". This route is more dangerous from a
toxicologic point of view and likely to lead to compulsive use. Occasional
oral use in social situations is likely to be the least harmful. Some people
may find CNS stimulants psychologically addictive. Synthesis 1A 2000-mL
Erlenmeyer flask, equipped with a magnetic stirring bar, was charged with
methylene chloride (200 mL), acetic acid (10 mL) water (100 mL), potassium
permanganate (2g) and ephedrine hydrochloride (2g). The solution was stirred
at room temperature for 30 min. This was followed by the addition of
sufficient sodium hydrogen sulfite to reduce the precipitated manganese
dioxide. The aqueous phase was made basic with 5N sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and
the methylene chloride was separated. The organic layer was extracted with 0.5N
sulfuric acid (H2SO4). Isolation of the acid layer followed by basification
with sodium bicarbonate and extraction with methylene chloride (50 mL,three
times), removed the product into the organic phase. The solvent was
concentrated by rotary evaporation, followed by column chromatography through
neutral alumina with methylene chloride. Solvent removal through rotary
evaporation produced a colorless liquid which was disolved in hexane. Gaseous
hydrochloric acid was bubbled into the hexane to precipitate the amine
hydrochloride to produce a 1-g (50%) yield of 2-methylamino-1- phenylpropan-1-
onehydrochloride. Ephedrone, like methamphetamine, processes one asymmetric
center.Depending upon the synthetic precursor, l-ephedrine (1R,2S) ord-
pseudoephedrine (1S,2R), the product expected would be d-ephedrone(2S) or l-
ephedrone (2R), respectively. However, depending on the heat of the reaction
or harsh extraction conditions the enolizableketone will result in a racemic d,
l-ephedrone. Synthesis 3A solution composed of 0.99g of sodium dichromate and
133g of concentrated sulfuric acid dissolved in 4.46 cc of water is added slowly
with stirring to 1.65g of l-ephedrine dissolved in 4.7 cc ofwater and 0.55 cc
of concentrated sulfuric acid at room temperature. The mixture is stirred at
room temperature for an additional 4 to 6 hours and then made alkaline with
sodium hydroxide solution. The aqueous mixture is extracted with two volumes
of chloroform and then with two volumes of ether. The organic extracts
containing the freebase of 1-a-methylaminoprophenone are combined, treated with
an excess of dry hydrogen chloride and the solvents evaporated. The residual
1-a-methylaminopropiophenone hydrochloride is stirred with petroleum ether,
collected and purified by dissolving in ethanol and reprecipitating with ether.
m.p. 182-184 o C.(1) Zingel, K.Y., Dovensky, W., Crossman, A. and Allen, A.,
"Ephedrone: 2-Methylamino-1-Phenylpropane-1-One (Jeff)," Journal of Forensic
Science.
s, v. 36, No.3, May 1991, pp.915-920(2) Young, R. and R.A. Glennon. "Cocaine-
Stimulus Generalization to Two New Designer Drugs: Methcathinone and 4-
Methylaminorex" Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 45(1) 229-231, 1993(3) Glennon,R.A.,
Yousif, M., Kalix, P
"Methcathinone: A new and potent amphetamine-like agent." Pharmacol. Biochem.
Behav.26:547-5451, 1987.(3) British Patent, 768,772 (1954).(4) Goldstone,M.S.
"Cat - Methcathinone - A New Drug of Abuse" Journal of the American Medical
Association
v269 no 19 p2508 (letter)