2C-B
2-(4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)ethan-1-amine
Overview
2C-B belongs to Psychedelics / Phenethylamines / 2C series.
Effects
Subjective effects vary. What a substance feels like depends on dose, individual physiology,
mindset, and setting. The points below describe commonly reported effects, not guaranteed, uniform, or
desirable outcomes.
- Psychedelic sensory enhancement
- Altered visual patterning and color salience
- Changes in bodily perception (altered and unreal body feeling)
- Possible euphoria, stimulation, anxiety, or dysphoria depending on context and individual response
Dosing & duration
Harm-reduction note: These are commonly cited reference ranges, not a recommendation or a
“safe” dose. Potency, purity, body chemistry, tolerance, and drug combinations vary widely. Start
low, go slow, wait for full effects before redosing, and never assume an unknown product matches these
figures. Missing data is not evidence of safety.
Oral, Insufflated. Oral is the most common route. Insufflation gives a faster, shorter, more intense and often painful onset.
Dose ranges
Oral – threshold
~2–5 mg
Oral – common
12–24 mg
Oral – strong
25–40 mg
Insufflated
≈10–30 mg (about ⅓ of oral)
Duration
onset
0.3–1.5 h (oral, typically 0.5–1.2 h)
peak
≈2–3 h
total
3–5 h (range 2–8 h)
after effects
mild residual stimulation. Most effects resolved by ~6 h
Chemical & Physical Properties
| Formula | C10H14BrNO2 |
| Molar mass | 260.131 g/mol |
| State | Solid (usually the water-soluble hydrochloride or hydrobromide salt, white to off-white crystalline) |
| Melting point | 237–239 °C (hydrochloride salt, free-base melting point not reported) |
| Boiling point | unavailable: true. reason: the compound is a crystalline solid that decomposes on strong heating rather than boiling, so no reliable experimental boiling point is reported |
| Density | unavailable: true. reason: no reliable experimental value exists for the solid. The only figures available are low-confidence software predictions, which we do not publish |
| Vapor pressure | unavailable: true. reason: this is a non-volatile solid with a negligible vapour pressure that is not experimentally reported |
| pKa | ~9.8 (predicted, aliphatic primary amine) |
| LogP | 2.1 (XLogP3, computed for the free base) |
| Solubility | Free base: soluble in chloroform, ether and methanol. Insoluble in water, Hydrochloride salt: soluble in water, methanol and chloroform. Slightly soluble in acetone. Insoluble in ether, Values depend strongly on salt form and solvent: free-base and salt figures are labelled separately and should not be mixed |
| Refractive index | unavailable: true. reason: refractive index characterises liquids and solutions, not a crystalline powder |
Identifiers & Synonyms
| CAS | 66142-81-2 |
| CAS (enantiomer) | |
| PubChem CID | 98527 |
| InChIKey | YMHOBZXQZVXHBM-UHFFFAOYSA-N |
| InChI | InChI=1S/C10H14BrNO2/c1-13-8-5-7(3-4-12)6-9(14-2)10(8)11/h5-6H,3-4,12H2,1-2H3 |
| SMILES | COc1cc(CCN)cc(OC)c1Br |
Synonyms
- 4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine
- 2,5-dimethoxy-4-bromophenethylamine
- 2C-B
- Nexus
- Bees
- Venus
Pharmacodynamics & Biochemistry
Serotonergic psychedelic phenethylamine with primary effects linked to agonist or partial-agonist activity at 5-HT2A receptors. 5-HT2C activity is also commonly discussed in receptor-profile literature. The overall profile is often described as combining psychedelic sensory changes with a comparatively clearer phenethylamine-like somatic or alerting component.
Biological targets
- 5-HT2A
- 5-HT2C
Binding & functional measurements
| Target | Measurement | Species |
|---|---|---|
| 5-HT2A receptor | Ki 0.88 ± 0.04 nM | Human |
| 5-HT1D receptor | Ki 26 nM | Human |
| 5-HT2B receptor | Ki 14 nM | Human |
| 5-HT2C receptor | Ki 47 ± 9.0 nM | Human |
| α2C-adrenoceptor | Ki 103 nM | Human |
| 5-HT1B receptor | Ki 104 nM | Human |
| 5-HT1E receptor | Ki 120 nM | Human |
| 5-HT1A receptor | Ki 240 ± 40 nM | Human |
| 5-HT7 receptor | Ki 210 nM | Human |
| α2-adrenoceptor | Ki 320 ± 10 nM | Human |
| 5-HT6 receptor | Ki 320 nM | Human |
| M3 muscarinic receptor | Ki 822 nM | Human |
| I1 imidazoline site | Ki 2,155 nM | Human |
| D2 receptor | Ki 2,200 ± 300 nM | Human |
| 5-HT2A receptor | EC50 9.0 nM Emax 89% | Human |
| 5-HT2B receptor | EC50 130 ± 60 nM Emax 89 ± 13% | Human |
| 5-HT2C receptor | EC50 0.03 nM Emax 116 ± 9.124% | Human |
| TAAR1 | EC50 240 ± 160 nM Emax 57 ± 16% | Rat |
| TAAR1 | EC50 2,300 ± 400 nM Emax 69 ± 13% | Mouse |
| TAAR1 | EC50 3,300 ± 900 nM Emax 10 ± 2% | Human |
| 5-HT2A receptor | EC50 27 ± 3.1 nM Emax 82 ± 1.2% | Rat |
| 5-HT2A receptor | Ki 0.66 ± 0.12 nM | Rat |
| Serotonin transporter | Ki 9,700 ± 300 nM | Human |
| TAAR1 | Ki 2,200 ± 300 nM | Mouse |
| TAAR1 | Ki 79 ± 8.0 nM | Rat |
| α1A-adrenoceptor | Ki 8,200 ± 2,200 nM | Human |
| α2B-adrenoceptor | Ki 665 nM | Human |
Pharmacokinetics
| Bioavailability | Human absolute oral bioavailability is not well characterized in public references. |
| Tmax | Peak subjective effects ≈2–2.4 h, oral-fluid concentrations peaked ~1 h post-dose in a controlled human study. |
| Half-life | Oral-fluid elimination half-life ≈2.5 h (2.48 ± 3.20 h, n=16). |
| Vd | Not reported |
| Protein binding | Not reported |
| Metabolism | Hepatic. Oxidative deamination by monoamine oxidase (MAO-A and MAO-B) plus O-demethylation. Reported metabolites include BDMPE, BDMPAA, BDMBA, B-2-HMPE and 2-OH-2C-B. |
| Excretion | Mainly renal excretion of metabolites. Compound-specific human elimination detail remains limited in standard public summaries. |
Toxicology & Safety
Harm-reduction note: Toxicity and risk depend on dose, route, purity, combinations, setting, and individual
health factors. Missing harms should never be interpreted as evidence of safety.
Not reported
Acute risks can include anxiety, panic, confusion, nausea, tachycardia, hypertension, mydriasis, and sympathomimetic or vasoconstrictive effects. Risk can rise with higher exposure, hot environments, adulteration, and combinations with stimulants or serotonergic drugs. Limited formal toxicity literature should never be interpreted as evidence of safety. In an observational human study (10–20 mg oral), 2C-B raised systolic blood pressure by ~19 mmHg, diastolic by ~13 mmHg and heart rate by ~13 bpm.[6][7]
Legal Status
Legal note: Legal status can change over time and may vary by country, region, formulation, analogue status,
prescription context, and enforcement practice. Always confirm with current official sources before relying on this section.
US: Schedule I. UK: Class A. DE: BtMG Anlage I
Interactions & Contraindications
Drug interactions
Other serotonergic drugs May raise the risk of serotonin toxicity or unpredictably intensify psychological and autonomic effects.
Stimulants (amphetamines, cocaine) Can increase cardiovascular strain, agitation, anxiety, vasoconstriction and heat-related risk.
MAOIs May intensify or prolong effects unpredictably, deserving special caution.
Contraindications
Personal or family history of psychosis, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder
Cardiovascular disease, hypertension or arrhythmia severe uncontrolled hypertension or significant disease.
Hot, dehydrating environments (overheating risk) high heat load, dehydration, or heavy stimulant co-exposure.
No interactions or contraindications listed.
Usage & Context
- Recreational.
- Research / ethnopharmacology reference.
- Historically associated with the Shulgin 2C series.
Sources & Evidence
- McLean TH, Parrish JC, Braden MR, et al. (2006). 1-Aminomethylbenzocycloalkanes: conformationally restricted hallucinogenic phenethylamine analogues as functionally selective 5-HT2A receptor agonists. J Med Chem 49:5794-803.
PMID 16970404 · doi:10.1021/jm060656o
- Wallach J, Cao AB, Calkins MM, et al. (2023). Identification of 5-HT2A receptor signaling pathways associated with psychedelic potential. Nat Commun 14:8221.
PMID 38102107 · doi:10.1038/s41467-023-44016-1
- Ray TS (2010). Psychedelics and the human receptorome. PLoS One 5:e9019.
PMID 20126400 · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0009019
- Rickli A, Luethi D, Reinisch J, et al. (2015). Receptor interaction profiles of novel N-2-methoxybenzyl (NBOMe) derivatives of 2,5-dimethoxy-substituted phenethylamines (2C drugs). Neuropharmacology 99:546-53.
PMID 26318099 · doi:10.1016/j.neuropharm.2015.08.034
- Simmler LD, Buchy D, Chaboz S, et al. (2016). In Vitro Characterization of Psychoactive Substances at Rat, Mouse, and Human Trace Amine-Associated Receptor 1. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 357:134-44.
PMID 26791601 · doi:10.1124/jpet.115.229765
- Papaseit E, Farré M, Pérez-Mañá C, et al. (2018). Acute Pharmacological Effects of 2C-B in Humans: An Observational Study. Front Pharmacol 9:206.
PMID 29593537 · doi:10.3389/fphar.2018.00206
- Dean BV, Stellpflug SJ, Burnett AM, et al. (2013). 2C or not 2C: phenethylamine designer drug review. J Med Toxicol 9:172-8.
PMID 23494844 · doi:10.1007/s13181-013-0295-x
- Pottie E, Cannaert A, Stove CP (2020). In vitro structure-activity relationship determination of 30 psychedelic new psychoactive substances by means of β-arrestin 2 recruitment to the serotonin 2A receptor. Arch Toxicol 94:3449-3460.
PMID 32627074 · doi:10.1007/s00204-020-02836-w
- Wikipedia: 2C-B (dosage & pharmacokinetics) CC BY-SA 4.0
- SWGDRUG monograph (melting point, solubility) and PubChem CID 98527 (computed LogP)