Methedrine - Methamphetamine

N-Methylation yields methedrine, methamphetamine (METH the S isomer)... 

Methamphetamine is a potent stimulant that was first synthesized by a Japanese scientist in the early 1900s as an analogue of amphetamine for use as a nasal decongestant, antiasthma drug, and weight loss aid. However, it was not used commercially until the 1940s when it was manufactured and marketed as Methedrine by the pharmaceutical company Burroughs Wellcome. 

Methylphenidate (e.g., Ritalin and Concerta ) is a stimulant drug prescribed to treat hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention in millions of American children. Methylphenidate was first synthesized in the mid-1940s in Europe. In the United States, it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1955. The effects of methylphenidate in the human body are almost identical to those of the amphetamines. Amphetamines—the collective name for levoamphetamine (Benzedrine), dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine ), and methamphetamine (Methedrine or speed )—are known to be potent psychomotor stimulants. 

There arc a number of different amphetamines, but all have the same basic effect. Plain amphetamine (Benzedrine] was the first to become popular. Dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine and methamphetamine (Methedrine] arc effective in lower doses but otherwise are similar to the parent compound. A few other drugs — methylphenidate (Ritalin), for example — resemble amphetamines in effect even though they have a different chemical stmeture. 

Legal methamphetamine is sold under such trade names as Desoxyn, Methedrine, etc. It is closely related both in structure and effects to regular amphetamine, called benzedrine and dexedrine. 

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