Dimethylamphetamine also referred to as dimetamfetamine and N,N-dimethylamphetamine, is a stimulant

Stimulant

Stimulants are psychoactive drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both. Examples of these kinds of effects may include enhanced alertness, wakefulness, and locomotion, among others...

 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 phenethylamine

Substituted phenethylamine

The substituted phenethylamines are chemical compounds with the 2-phenethylamine chemical structure modified at the phenyl ring, sidechain, and/or amino group. Some of them are psychoactive drugs, including stimulants, psychedelics, opioids, and entactogens, which exert their effects primarily...

 and 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...

 chemical classes. Dimethylamphetamine has weaker stimulant effects than amphetamine

Amphetamine

Amphetamine or amfetamine is a psychostimulant drug of the phenethylamine class which produces increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite.Brand names of medications that contain, or metabolize into, amphetamine include Adderall, Dexedrine, Dextrostat,...

 or methamphetamine

Methamphetamine

Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...

 and is considerably less addictive and less neurotoxic compared to methamphetamine. However, it still retains some mild stimulant effects and abuse potential, and is a Schedule I controlled drug.

Dimethylamphetamine has occasionally been found in illicit methamphetamine laboratories, but is usually an impurity rather than the desired product. It may be produced by accident when methamphetamine is synthesised by methylation

Methylation

In the chemical sciences, methylation denotes the addition of a methyl group to a substrate or the substitution of an atom or group by a methyl group. Methylation is a form of alkylation with, to be specific, a methyl group, rather than a larger carbon chain, replacing a hydrogen atom...

of amphetamine if the reaction temperature is too high or an excess of methylating agent is used.