5-Iodo-2-aminoindane is a drug

Drug

A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.In pharmacology, a...

 which acts as a releasing agent

Releasing agent

A releasing agent , or simply releaser, is a drug that induces the release of a neurotransmitter from the presynaptic neuron into the synapse, leading to an increase in the extracellular concentrations of the neurotransmitter. Many drugs use neurotransmitter release to exert their psychological and...

 of serotonin

Serotonin

Serotonin or 5-hydroxytryptamine is a monoamine neurotransmitter. Biochemically derived from tryptophan, serotonin is primarily found in the gastrointestinal tract, platelets, and in the central nervous system of animals including humans...

, norepinephrine

Norepinephrine

Norepinephrine is the US name for noradrenaline , a catecholamine with multiple roles including as a hormone and a neurotransmitter...

, and dopamine

Dopamine

Dopamine is a catecholamine neurotransmitter present in a wide variety of animals, including both vertebrates and invertebrates. In the brain, this substituted phenethylamine functions as a neurotransmitter, activating the five known types of dopamine receptors—D1, D2, D3, D4, and D5—and their...

. It was developed in the 1990s by a team led by David E. Nichols

David E. Nichols

David E. Nichols is an American pharmacologist and medicinal chemist.Presently the Robert C. and Charlotte P. Anderson Distinguished Chair in Pharmacology at Purdue University, Nichols has worked in the field of psychoactive drugs since 1969...

 at Purdue University

Purdue University

Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...

. 5-IAI fully substitutes for MDMA in rodents and is a putative entactogen in humans. Unlike related aminoindane

2-Aminoindane

2-Aminoindane is a psychoactive drug and research chemical with stimulant properties. It is a rigid analogue of amphetamine and partially substitutes for it in rat discrimination tests.-Chemical Derivatives:...

 derivatives like MDAI

5,6-Methylenedioxy-2-aminoindane

5,6-Methylenedioxy-2-aminoindane is a drug developed in the 1990s by a team led by David E. Nichols at Purdue University. It acts as a non-neurotoxic and highly selective serotonin releasing agent in vitro and produces entactogen effects in humans.- Chemistry :The chemical structure of MDAI is...

 and MMAI

5-Methoxy-6-methyl-2-aminoindane

5-Methoxy-6-methyl-2-aminoindane , is a drug developed in the 1990s by a team led by David E. Nichols at Purdue University. It acts as a non-neurotoxic and highly selective serotonin releasing agent and produces entactogen effects in humans...

, 5-IAI causes some serotonergic

Serotonergic

Serotonergic or serotoninergic means "related to the neurotransmitter serotonin". A synapse is serotonergic if it uses serotonin as its neurotransmitter...

 neurotoxicity

Neurotoxicity

Neurotoxicity occurs when the exposure to natural or artificial toxic substances, which are called neurotoxins, alters the normal activity of the nervous system in such a way as to cause damage to nervous tissue. This can eventually disrupt or even kill neurons, key cells that transmit and process...

 in rats, but is substantially less toxic than its corresponding amphetamine

Substituted amphetamine

Substituted amphetamines are a chemical class of stimulants, entactogens, hallucinogens, and other drugs. They feature a phenethylamine core with a methyl group attached to the alpha carbon resulting in amphetamine, along with additional substitutions...

 homologue pIA

Para-Iodoamphetamine

para-Iodoamphetamine , also known as 4-iodoamphetamine , is a research chemical of the phenethylamine and amphetamine chemical classes.It acts as a selective serotonin releasing agent and is also a MAOI....

, with the damage observed barely reaching statistical significance.

See also

• 2-Aminoindane
  2-Aminoindane
  2-Aminoindane is a psychoactive drug and research chemical with stimulant properties. It is a rigid analogue of amphetamine and partially substitutes for it in rat discrimination tests.-Chemical Derivatives:...
  
   (2-AI)
• para-Iodoamphetamine
  Para-Iodoamphetamine
  para-Iodoamphetamine , also known as 4-iodoamphetamine , is a research chemical of the phenethylamine and amphetamine chemical classes.It acts as a selective serotonin releasing agent and is also a MAOI....
  
   (pIA)
• 6-Chloro-2-aminotetralin (6-CAT)