ALD-52

ALD-52, also known as 1-acetyl-LSD (1A-LSD), is a psychedelic drug of the lysergamide family related to lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD).^[1][4] It has been reported to produce similar psychoactive effects as LSD, but its pharmacological effects on humans are poorly understood.^[1][4]

ALD-52

Clinical data
Other names	ALD52; ALD; 1-Acetyl-N,N-diethyllysergamide; 1-Acetyl-LSD; 1A-LSD; N-Acetyl-LSD; Acetyl-LSD
Routes of administration	Oral[1]
Drug class	Serotonergic psychedelic; Hallucinogen
Legal status
Legal status	AU: Unscheduled BR: Class F2 (Prohibited psychotropics)[2] CA: Unscheduled DE: NpSG (Industrial and scientific use only) UK: Class A US: Unscheduled, could be prosecuted under the Federal Analogue Act. Unscheduled in the most countries of the world, Illegal in France, Romania, Switzerland, Finland and Singapore[3]
Identifiers
IUPAC name (6aR,9R)-4-Acetyl-N,N-diethyl-7-methyl-4,6,6a,7,8,9-hexahydroindolo[4,3-fg]quinoline-9-carboxamide
CAS Number	3270-02-8 Y
PubChem CID	201111
ChemSpider	174121 Y
UNII	R224WJZ8M7
CompTox Dashboard (EPA)	DTXSID20186370
Chemical and physical data
Formula	C22H27N3O2
Molar mass	365.477 g·mol−1
3D model (JSmol)	Interactive image
SMILES O=C(n1cc2c3c(C4=C[C@@H](C(=O)N(CC)CC)CN([C@@H]4C2)C)cccc13)C
InChI InChI=1S/C22H27N3O2/c1-5-24(6-2)22(27)16-10-18-17-8-7-9-19-21(17)15(13-25(19)14(3)26)11-20(18)23(4)12-16/h7-10,13,16,20H,5-6,11-12H2,1-4H3/t16-,20-/m1/s1 Y Key:FJOWXGYLIWJFCH-OXQOHEQNSA-N Y
(verify)

The drug is assumed to act as a prodrug to LSD in humans, and this has been substantiated in vitro.^[4][5]

ALD-52 was initially synthesized in 1957 by Albert Hofmann.^[6] The purported first confirmed detection of the substance on the illicit market occurred in April 2016.^[4][7]

Use and effects

In his book TiHKAL (Tryptamines I Have Known and Loved), Alexander Shulgin briefly discusses ALD-52.^[1] His comments on the drug are vague second-hand accounts stating that doses in the range of 50 to 175 μg orally have resulted in various conclusions.^[1] One account found that there was less visual distortion than with LSD, seemed to produce less anxiety and tenseness in comparison, and was somewhat less potent.^[1] One subject claimed it was more effective in increasing blood pressure, and another could not tell them apart.^[1] According to an earlier source, ALD-52 was approximately equipotent with LSD.^[8]

Interactions

See also: Psychedelic drug § Interactions, and Trip killer § Serotonergic psychedelic antidotes

Pharmacology

Pharmacodynamics

In the 1967 book The Hallucinogens by Abram Hoffer and Humphry Osmond, ALD-52 is listed as having approximately 20% of the toxicity of LSD in rabbits given intravenously, about 12.5% of the pyretogenic effect of LSD, and around twice the antiserotonergic activity of LSD in vitro.^[8]

Chemistry

Analogues

Analogues of ALD-52 (1A-LSD) include MLD-41 (1-methyl-LSD), OML-632 (1-hydroxymethyl-LSD), ALA-10 (1A-LAE), 1-formyl-LSD, 1P-LSD, 1cP-LSD, 1V-LSD, 1B-LSD, 1S-LSD, 1T-LSD, 1P-ETH-LAD, and 1cP-AL-LAD, among others.

Society and culture

Legal status

Austria

ALD-52 is technically not illegal but it may fall in the NPSG (Neue-Psychoaktive-Substanzen-Gesetz Österreich) as an analogue of LSD.

Denmark

ALD-52 is not listed as an illegal substance in Denmark as of April 2019, and its chemical class 'lysergamide' is not banned under the Analogue Act (some LSD analogues are, however, prohibited).^[9]

Finland

ALD-52 is labeled a controlled psychoactive substance in Finland as of 2014.^[10]

Germany

ALD-52 is controlled under the NpSG as of July 18, 2019.^[11][12] Production and import with the aim to place it on the market, administration to another person and trading is punishable. Possession is illegal but not penalized.^[13]

Latvia

ALD-52 is illegal in Latvia. Although it is not officially scheduled, it is controlled as an LSD structural analog due to an amendment made on June 1, 2015.^[14]

Romania

ALD-52 is illegal to produce or sell in Romania. It is not included directly in the list of controlled substances, but it is included in an analogue act. However, it is not, as of yet, classified as illegal to use.

Singapore

ALD-52 is a class A controlled drug, and is illegal to traffic, manufacture, import, export, possess, or consume in Singapore as of December 1, 2019, punishable with a minimum of five years' imprisonment and five strokes of the cane.^[15]

Switzerland

Since March 2018, ALD-52 is illegal in Switzerland and has been put in the RS 812.121.11.

United Kingdom

On June 10, 2014, the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) recommended that ALD-52 be specifically named in the UK Misuse of Drugs Act as a class A drug despite not identifying it as ever having been sold or any harm associated with its use.^[16] The UK Home office accepted this advice and announced a ban of the substance to be enacted on 6 January 2015 as part of The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2014.

United States

ALD-52 is unscheduled in the United States. It may be considered an analogue of LSD, a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. As such, the sale for human consumption or the use for illicit non-medical or scientific use could be prosecuted as crimes under the Federal Analogue Act however could be legal for medical and research uses like a research chemical.^[17]

See also

• Substituted lysergamide
• Lizard Labs