3C (psychedelics)

3C (3C-x), also known as 4-substituted 3,5-dimethoxyamphetamines, substituted 3,4,5-trimethoxyamphetamine (3,4,5-TMA or TMA-1) analogues, or 3C-scalines, is a general name for the family of psychedelic amphetamines containing methoxy groups at the 3 and 5 positions of the benzene ring. These compounds are analogues of 3,4,5-trimethoxyamphetamine (3,4,5-TMA or TMA-1).

The 3C drugs are not the amphetamine counterparts of the 2C drugs, which are 4-substituted 2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamines. Instead, the DOx drugs, which are 4-substituted 2,5-dimethoxyamphetamines, are the amphetamine counterparts of the 2C drugs. The 3C drugs are the amphetamine counterparts of substituted mescaline analogues (4-substituted 3,5-dimethoxyphenethylamines). Moreover, in terms of naming with the "3C" prefix, the 3C drugs are generally actually derivatives of TMA-1 with the 4-position methoxy group extended rather than having any 4-position substituent. In this regard, they would be the 3,5-dimethoxyamphetamine counterparts of the 2C-O (2,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine) drugs (e.g., 2C-O-4) and the 2,4,5-trimethoxyamphetamine (2,4,5-TMA; TMA-2) derivatives (e.g., MEM).

3C drugs have been developed and/or studied by Alexander Shulgin and Daniel Trachsel, among others. The pharmacology of 3C drugs has been studied and described.