Clortermine was developed by Ciba in the 1960s and is an anorectic

Anorectic

An anorectic or anorexic , also known as anorexigenic or appetite suppressant, is a dietary supplement and/or drug which reduces appetite, food consumption, and as a result, causes weight loss to occur.-List of anorectics:Numerous pharmaceutical compounds are marketed as appetite suppressants.The...

 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...

 of the 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...

 class. It is the 2-chloro analogue of the better known appetite suppressant phentermine

Phentermine

Phentermine, a contraction of "phenyl-tertiary-butylamine", is a psychostimulant drug of the phenethylamine class, chemically related to amphetamine. It is used medically as an appetite suppressant....

, and is the 2-chloro positional isomer of chlorphentermine

Chlorphentermine

Chlorphentermine is an appetite suppressant of the phenethylamine class. Developed in 1962, it is the 4-chloro derivative of the better known appetite suppressant phentermine, which is still in current use.Chlorphentermine itself is a relatively weak stimulant with little abuse potential, but is...

. Clortermine produces very low rates of self-administration in animals similarly to chlorphentermine, and as a result it likely does not act on 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...

. Instead, it may act as a 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...

 and/or norepinephrine

Norepinephrine

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

 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...

.