UWA-001 (also known as ñ-phenyl-MDMA and methylenedioxymephenidine) is a phenethylamine derivative invented at the University of Western Australia as non-toxic alternative to 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA) and researched as a potential treatment for Parkinson's disease.
It has a 5-HT<sub>2A</sub> receptor affinity of 1.2 üM (~10-fold increase compared to MDMA), 1.3 üM for the serotonin transporter (~4-fold decrease compared to MDMA), 13.4 üM for the norepinephrine transporter (~26-fold increase compared to MDMA) and virtually no affinity for the dopamine transporter (>50 üM).
Unlike MDMA and para-methoxyamphetamine (but similarly to ketamine), UWA-001 increases prepulse inhibition and was therefore considered to be non-psychoactive, though it was not assayed at other binding sites. It is toxic to the SH-SY5Y cell line at high concentrations, however significantly less toxic than MDMA at all concentrations tested.
UWA-001 is structurally related to the diarylethylamines lefetamine (a stimulant and opioid) and the dissociative anesthetic ephenidine, which acts as a NMDA receptor antagonist.