3,4-Methylenedioxycathinone (MDC, MDCATH), also known as ò-keto-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (ò-keto-MDA or òk-MDA), is an entactogen and stimulant drug of the phenethylamine, amphetamine, and cathinone families related to methylone (òk-MDMA or MDMC). It is the ò-keto analogue of MDA.
Like methylone, MDC is a serotoninâÂÂnorepinephrineâÂÂdopamine releasing agent (SNDRA). In contrast to MDA and MDMA, MDC shows no activity at the serotonin 5-HT<sub>2</sub> receptors, but does retain much weaker affinity for the rodent trace amine-associated receptor 1 (TAAR1).
The drug was patented as an antidepressant and antiparkinsonian agent by Peyton Jacob III and Alexander Shulgin in 1996. MDC and other non-N-substituted cathinones such as cathinone itself are chemically unstable due rapidly forming biologically inactive dimers and this has limited their prevalence.