white → orange2 → red2 → brown3
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Phenethylamine
Phenethylamine
PEA, beta-Phenylethylamine, benzeneethanamine
Phenethylamine is the simplest compound of its namesake chemical class, a naturally occurring stimulant found throughout nature in both plants and animals, including as a notable component of chocolate.citation needed It is closely related structurally to amphetamine and several neurotransmitters.1 Despite its intrinsic stimulant properties, phenethylamine is rapidly and completely metabolized in the human body, which largely prevents it from expressing meaningful pharmacological activity when consumed on its own.citation needed
Dosage & Duration
Dosage
Doses are population estimates that vary widely between individuals.
It is functionally inactive without a monoamine oxidase B inhibitor2, but combining it with a MAO-B inhibitor is quite risky and may rapidly lead to overdose.
Duration
Onset15-30 minutes
After Effects10-60 minutes
Total1-4 hours
Subjective Effects
Legacy content. A statistically backed ontology from Mindstate Design Labs is coming soon.
Phenethylamine is notable for producing essentially no subjective effects when taken on its own, despite being intrinsically a stimulant. Human trials at oral doses of up to 1,600 mg and intravenous doses of up to 50 mg reported no effects whatsoever. This inactivity is attributed to its rapid and complete metabolism in the body, primarily by monoamine oxidase, which destroys the compound before its stimulant properties can be expressed.
Pharmacology
Pharmacodynamics
Phenethylamine acts as a releasing agent of norepinephrine and dopamine, with in vitro potency at these targets roughly comparable to amphetamine.citation needed It is a potent agonist at trace amine-associated receptor 1 (TAAR1)1 and inhibits vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) in monoamine neurons.citation needed In addition to its catecholamine-releasing activity, phenethylamine functions as a monoaminergic activity enhancer, increasing the action potential-mediated release of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine at concentrations lower than those required for direct catecholamine release.
Pharmacokinetics
Phenethylamine is extremely rapidly metabolized, with an oral half-life of only 5 to 10 minutes. A significant portion of orally ingested phenethylamine is degraded in the small intestine by monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B) followed by aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), producing phenylacetic acid as the primary urinary metabolite. Additional metabolizing enzymes in humans include MAO-A, phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT), the semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidases AOC2 and AOC3, flavin-containing monooxygenase 3 (FMO3),citation needed and aralkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AANAT). This extensive and rapid enzymatic breakdown accounts for phenethylamine's negligible oral psychoactivity under normal conditions, though activity can emerge in the presence of a monoamine oxidase inhibitor.
Interactions
Interactions not written up yet
An unlisted combination is an unknown one, not a safe one. Check a dedicated combination chart before mixing.
Tolerance
Tolerance not written up yet
Harm Potential
Addiction & Dependence
Psychological
Phenethylamine is pharmacologically inactive when taken alone due to rapid metabolism by monoamine oxidase.citation needed Misuse in combination with MAO inhibitors has been reported, though abuse potential is not well characterized.
Toxicity
Antibiotic Function
Confirmed
Acts as a potent antimicrobial against certain pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli, including the O157:H7 strain, at sufficient concentrations.citation needed
History & Culture
Phenethylamine has long held a special place in psychopharmacological research due to its status as the simplest member of the phenethylamine chemical class. Its clean molecular structure, natural presence in human tissues and bodily fluids, and close chemical relationship to both amphetamine and…
Legality
By Country
Illegal6
United StatesIllegal (analog/blanket ban)Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. §§ 802(32)(A) and 813; United States v. McKinney, 79 F.3d 105 (8th Cir. 1996)59606162
Phenethylamine is not scheduled in the United States, while one seller was prosecuted under an analogue-theory argument.
By state
Across the 50 states, D.C., and the permanent territories, most jurisdictions treat phenethylamine consistently with federal law, though a number of states impose their own controls or classifications that diverge from the federal position.
IowaNot scheduledPhenethylamine is not listed as a controlled substance in Iowa's schedules. Iowa defines a controlled substance as a drug, substance, or immediate precursor in Schedules I through V. Iowa's current controlled-substances chapter does not create a general criminal analogue classification for an unscheduled substance.
MaineNot scheduledPhenethylamine is not named or described in Maine's criminal Schedules W, X, Y, or Z. Maine's criminal drug offenses apply to drugs named or described in those schedules. The statutory analogue definition in Title 22 governs authorized possession and drug-checking activities rather than adding an unscheduled substance to the criminal schedules.
FinlandIllegal (analog/blanket ban)Phenethylamine (2-phenylethan-1-amine) is a positional isomer of 1-phenylethylamine (1-PEA), which is listed as a psychoactive substance prohibited from the consumer market. Section 3(3) of the Narcotics Act includes positional isomers of such substances; 1-PEA was added to the annex by Decree 166/2016, effective 1 April 2016. Manufacture, import, storage, offering for sale, and supply are prohibited.
PolandIllegal (analog/blanket ban)Rozporządzenie Ministra Zdrowia z dnia 17 sierpnia 2018 r. w sprawie wykazu substancji psychotropowych, środków odurzających oraz nowych substancji psychoaktywnych (t.j. Dz.U. 2024 poz. 1139, ze zm.)313233
Poland controls phenethylamine (2-phenylethylamine; PEA) through the generic Group I-NPS entry for 2-phenylethylamine derivatives, whose structural template permits hydrogen at every R1–R6 position and therefore encompasses unsubstituted PEA. The group has applied since 21 August 2018. Commercial manufacture, processing, import, export, intra-EU supply or acquisition, and marketing require a permit; unauthorised possession is punishable by a fine, with up to three years’ imprisonment for a significant quantity.
South AfricaIllegal (analog/blanket ban)Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act 140 of 1992, as amended by Drugs and Drug Trafficking Amendment Act 14 of 2022394041
Phenethylamine (PEA; 2-phenylethylamine) is controlled in South Africa as an analogue/homologue in Part III of Schedule 2 to the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act 140 of 1992, as substituted on 14 December 2022 by Act 14 of 2022. The Schedule lists amphetamine and includes chemically related homologues that contain a structural fragment similar to a listed substance, which captures phenethylamine through the phenethylamine scaffold shared with amphetamine. Unauthorised use, possession, and dealing in an undesirable dependence-producing substance are prohibited, subject to the Act’s medical and authorised-person exceptions.
SwitzerlandIllegal (analog/blanket ban)Verordnung des EDI über die Verzeichnisse der Betäubungsmittel, psychotropen Stoffe, Vorläuferstoffe und Hilfschemikalien (Betäubungsmittelverzeichnisverordnung, BetmVV-EDI; SR 812.121.11), Anhang 6 Nr. 315525354
Phenethylamine is controlled under the generic Phenylalkylamine entry in Annex 6, Verzeichnis e, of the BetmVV-EDI, effective 13 March 2026 at 10:00. The generic entry expressly encompasses the wholly unsubstituted phenethylamine structure. Industrial and scientific use are exempt from control, while private use is not; unauthorized manufacture, trade, and use are illegal under the Betäubungsmittelgesetz.
TurkeyIllegal (analog/blanket ban)Phenethylamine is controlled in Turkey through the generic “AMFETAMİN (FENİLETİLAMİN) TÜREVLERİ” structural class in Council of Ministers Decision No. 2015/7238, published on 6 February 2015. The definition uses 2-phenylethylamine as its parent scaffold and permits hydrogen at every defined position, thereby including unsubstituted PEA. Under Law No. 2313, unauthorized import, sale, manufacture, or possession without legal authority is subject to seizure, while retail supply of controlled narcotics is confined to pharmacies on prescription.
Controlled / restricted5
GermanyRestrictedPhenethylamine and its derivatives and salts are pharmacy-only substances when supplied as medicinal products. The New Psychoactive Substances Act expressly excludes 2-phenethylamine itself from its group control for compounds derived from 2-phenethylamine.
PortugalRestrictedPhenethylamine (2-PEA; 2-fenetilamina) is expressly listed in Portugal’s List of New Psychoactive Substances, as republished by Portaria n.º 232/2022; the list has covered it since 18 April 2013. Decreto-Lei n.º 54/2013 prohibits producing, importing, exporting, advertising, distributing, selling, possessing, or making available a listed NPS, except for INFARMED-authorised industrial or pharmaceutical purposes. Breach is a very serious economic administrative offence, while possession solely for personal consumption follows Lei n.º 30/2000 with the necessary adaptations.
RussiaControlled precursorPhenethylamine (PEA; 2-phenylethylamine) at a concentration of 15% or more is a Table I, List IV precursor under Government Decree No. 681. It has been subject to this classification since 27 September 2018, when Government Decree No. 337 took effect. Russian law restricts List IV precursor circulation; production, processing, storage, sale, acquisition, and use of Table I precursors require licensing.
SpainRestrictedResolución de 2 de diciembre de 2025, de la Presidencia del Consejo Superior de Deportes, por la que se aprueba la lista de sustancias y métodos prohibidos en el deporte424344454647
Phenethylamine is classified as a specified stimulant in Spain’s S6.B anti-doping list and is prohibited in competition from 1 January 2026. The restriction applies to official state-level competitions and, outside them, to athletes licensed to participate in those competitions. Under Organic Law 11/2021, an athlete’s presence, use, or consumption of a prohibited substance is an anti-doping infringement; an intentional infringement involving a specified substance carries a four-year licence suspension, otherwise two years. Phenethylamine is not listed in Spain’s national narcotic or psychotropic schedules, whose additions require a published national classification order; its identified restriction is therefore sport-specific.
Prescription1
ChinaPrescription onlyPhenethylamine (苯乙胺; 2-phenylethylamine) is listed as a stimulant in China’s 2026 Doping Catalogue, effective 1 January 2026. The Anti-Doping Regulations place listed prohibited substances in prescription-drug management and prohibit unlawful production, sale, import, and export. Athletes may not use it in sport, and registered athletes may hold a medicine containing it only on a prescription from a licensed prescriber.
Legal / decriminalized2
JapanLegal (regulated)Food Sanitation Act Enforcement Regulation (MHLW Ordinance No. 23), as amended by MHLW Ordinance No. 118 (2010)202122
Japan lists phenethylamine as a designated food additive under Annex 1 of the Food Sanitation Act Enforcement Regulation. Since 10 November 2010, when used as a food additive it may be used only for flavouring, and it is subject to composition and use standards under the Food, Additives, etc. Specifications and Standards.
MexicoLegal (regulated)Diario Oficial de la Federación flavoring-substances listing23
Mexico's official flavoring-substances listing identifies phenethylamine under its chemical synonyms and FEMA number. The listing treats phenethylamine as a regulated flavoring substance rather than listing it as a narcotic or psychotropic drug.
Not scheduled5
ColombiaNot scheduledSince 27 January 2026, phenethylamine (PEA; 2-phenylethylamine) is not named in Colombia’s current list of controlled substances, State-monopoly substances, or controlled medicines. The control rules extend only to specified salts, hydrates, and stereoisomers of substances already listed; they do not create a blanket phenethylamine-class or analogue control. Colombia’s Penal Code criminalizes trafficking in substances contained in the relevant international schedules, and phenethylamine is absent from the adopted national control lists.
Czech RepublicNot scheduledAct No. 167/1998 Coll., on Addictive Substances (§ 2); Government Regulation No. 463/2013 Coll., on Lists of Addictive Substances910111213
Phenethylamine is not scheduled as a controlled substance in the Czech Republic. Czech drug-control law applies to psychoactive narcotic and psychotropic substances only when they are listed in Annexes 1–7 of Government Regulation No. 463/2013 Coll.; phenethylamine is absent from those lists and from the separate listed-psychoactive and psychomodulatory-substance schedules. Its possession, production, and sale are therefore not subject to Czech controlled-substance scheduling solely by reason of phenethylamine.
NetherlandsNot scheduledPhenethylamine (2-phenylethylamine; 2-fenylethaan-1-amine) is expressly excluded from the Dutch Opiumwet’s generic List IA category for substances derived from 2-phenethylamine. Since 1 July 2025, Article 2a prohibits import, export, possession, manufacture, supply, sale, processing, and transport only of substances within List IA; that prohibition does not apply to phenethylamine itself. The legislative explanation states that products containing phenethylamine remain subject to food-law requirements and NVWA supervision.
NorwayNot scheduledPhenethylamine (PEA; 2-phenylethan-1-amine) is not scheduled as a narcotic in Norway under Narkotikaforskriften. The Narkotikalisten limits narcotics control to named entries and defined groups; its phenethylamine group requires one or more specified ring substituents, so unsubstituted PEA falls outside that group. The narcotics regulation therefore does not apply its controls on manufacture, sale, import, possession, or use to PEA.
SwedenNot scheduledFörordning (1992:1554) om kontroll av narkotika, bilaga 1; Förordning (1999:58) om förbud mot vissa hälsofarliga varor, bilagan48495051
Phenethylamine (fenetylamin; fenyletylamin; PEA) is not listed as a narcotic in Sweden’s current narcotics annex or as a hazardous good in the hazardous-goods annex. Sweden controls these substances through individual listings rather than an analogue or phenethylamine-class provision, so separately listed substituted phenethylamines do not extend control to phenethylamine itself. The separate destruction law allows case-specific seizure and destruction only for substances pending or expected to receive classification; it does not establish active class-wide control of PEA.
References
Source Pages
Comparative effects of amphetamine, phenylethylamine and related drugs on dopamine efflux, dopamine uptake and mazindol binding.- DrugBank: Phenethylamine
- DrugBank: Phenethylamine BioEntity
Erowid: PiHKAL Entry #142 PEA
Isomer Design (TiHKAL/PiHKAL)
PsychonautWiki: Phenethylamine (compound)
TripSit Factsheet: Phenethylamine
Wikipedia- Wikipedia: TAAR1
Citations
- Yue Pei, Aman Asif-Malik, & Juan J. Canales. (April 2016). Trace Amines and the Trace Amine-Associated Receptor 1: Pharmacology, Neurochemistry, and Clinical Implications. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 10, 148. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2016.0014812
- J. Bergman, S. Yasar, & G. Winger. (2001). Psychomotor stimulant effects of β-phenylethylamine in monkeys treated with MAO-B inhibitors. https://doi.org/10.1007/s0021301008901
- Robinson JC, & Snyder HR. (1955). β-Phenylethylamine. Organic Syntheses, Collected Volume, 3, 720. https://www.orgsyn.org/demo.aspx?prep=CV3P07201
- 2026年兴奋剂目录公告（2025年第6号）. sport.gov.cn (n.d.). https://www.sport.gov.cn/n315/n9041/n25319615/n25319760/c29452070/part/29454124.pdf1
- 2026年兴奋剂目录公告（2025年第6号）. samr.gov.cn (n.d.). https://www.samr.gov.cn/zw/zfxxgk/fdzdgknr/bgt/art/2023/art_ab59ecfc91ce456399fcf3357ea54622.html1
- Resolución 116 de 2026. minsalud.gov.co (n.d.). https://www.minsalud.gov.co/Normatividad_Nuevo/Resolucion%20No%20116%20de%202026.pdf1
- Resolución 116 de 2026. normograma.invima.gov.co (n.d.). https://normograma.invima.gov.co/normograma/compilacion/docs/resolucion_minsaludps_0315_2020.htm1
- Resolución 116 de 2026. suin-juriscol.gov.co (n.d.). https://www.suin-juriscol.gov.co/viewDocument.asp?ruta=Leyes%252F16632301
- Act No. 167/1998 Coll., on Addictive Substances (§ 2); Government Regulation No. 463/2013 Coll., on Lists of Addictive Substances. mzd.gov.cz (n.d.). https://mzd.gov.cz/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Sb_1998_167_2026-01-01_IZ.pdf1
- Act No. 167/1998 Coll., on Addictive Substances (§ 2); Government Regulation No. 463/2013 Coll., on Lists of Addictive Substances. e-sbirka.gov.cz (n.d.). https://e-sbirka.gov.cz/sb/1998/167/2025-07-011
Article Status
Step 1 · Automated synthesisAn autonomous workflow built by Josie Kins compiled this article's foundation from information published across the web.
- Step 2 · First-pass reviewPending
Not yet reviewed — this article is pending editorial review by Lyrea.
- Step 3 · Citation reviewPending
No one has reviewed this article's citations yet. That second pass checks each claim against the source it cites.
Recent changes8 human edits · latest
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14 August 2026
Lyrea · Updated the article
24 January 2026
Josie Kins · Updated the article · also 1,4-Butanediol, 1B-LSD, 1cP-AL-LAD and 573 more
Josie Kins · Updated the article · also 1,4-Butanediol, 1B-LSD, 1cP-AL-LAD and 573 more
Josie Kins · Updated the article · also 1,4-Butanediol, 1B-LSD, 1cP-AL-LAD and 573 more
Josie Kins · Updated the article · also 1,4-Butanediol, 1B-LSD, 1cP-AL-LAD and 573 more
Josie Kins · Updated the article · also 1,4-Butanediol, 1B-LSD, 1cP-AL-LAD and 573 more
Josie Kins · Updated the article · also 1,4-Butanediol, 1B-LSD, 1cP-AL-LAD and 573 more
Josie Kins · Updated the article · also 1,4-Butanediol, 1B-LSD, 1cP-AL-LAD and 573 more
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