Norepinephrine reductive amination

These effects are produced mostly by phenylpropanolamines present in the leaves. These include cathinone [4] (5 -a-aminopropiophenone), cathine [5] [(-)-IS, 2S-norpseudoephedrine] and (-) -IR, 2S-norephedrine (8). These substances have pharmacological properties similar to those of amphetamine [6] (81), as they induce the release and inhibit the uptake of dopamine and norepinephrine in CNS (82). In addition to the known phenylpropylamines, the presence of other amines such as meracathine, pseudomeracathine and meracathinone have been identified (83, 84). Cathinone, being a ketoamine base, is extremely unstable and, in particular, it can be transformed into (+)-norpseudoephedrine and (-)-norephedrine by an enzymatic reduction. It can also be oxidized to give 1-phenyl-l,2-propandione, while the cathinone dimers, such as 3,6-dimethyl-2,5-diphenylpyrazine are purely artifacts of the isolation (85). 

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