science

Harmane

Harmane is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Harmane rather than just read about it. In short: Harmane, or harman, also known as 1-methyl-β-carboline, is a heterocyclic amine and β-carboline found in a variety of foods including coffee, sauces, and cooked meat. It is also present in tobacco smoke.

Key takeaways

Harmane belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Harmane to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Harmane from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Harmane, or harman, also known as 1-methyl-β-carboline, is a heterocyclic amine and β-carboline found in a variety of foods including coffee, sauces, and cooked meat. It is also present in tobacco smoke. Harmane is related to other alkaloids, harmine and harmaline, found in 1837 in the plant Peganum harmala. The name derives from the Arabic word for the plant, حَرْمَل (ḥarmal). In humans, harmane is a potent tremor-producing neurotoxin. Harmane has been found to inhibit the early stages of the growth of the malaria parasite in the gut of mosquitoes infected by the bacterium Delftia tsuruhatensis, and can be absorbed by the mosquitoes upon contact.

Pharmacology

Pharmacodynamics Harmane is a potent reversible inhibitor of monoamine oxidase A (RIMA), with an IC50Tooltip half-maximal inhibitory concentration of 60 nM. It is also a weak dopamine reuptake inhibitor (DRI), with an IC50 of 1,490 nM at the dopamine transporter (DAT). Harmane shows weak affinity for the serotonin 5-HT2B and 5-HT2C receptors (Ki = 267 nM and 1,135 nM, respectively), but not for the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor (Ki = >10,000 nM). It has been found to be inactive as an agonist of the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor. Harmane fails to substitute for the psychedelic drug DOM in rodent drug discrimination tests. This is similar to the case of harmine but is in contrast to harmaline and 6-methoxyharmalan.

Chemistry Harmane is a methylated derivative of β-carboline with the molecular formula C12H10N2.

Natural occurrence

In 1962, Poindexter et al. found that there was very little harmane in tobacco, but a significant amount in tobacco smoke. They showed that it is produced from tryptophan by the heat of burning the tobacco.

Society and culture

Legal status

Canada Harmane is not a controlled substance in Canada as of 2025.

See also Substituted β-carboline Harmine

References

External links Harman - Isomer Design

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Harmane

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Harmane claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Harmane before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Harmane ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Harmane

In research: Harmane appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Harmane in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Harmane is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Beta-Carbolines, Dopamine reuptake inhibitors, Malaria, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Harmane outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Harmane in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Harmane means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Harmane out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Harmane in simple terms?

Why does Harmane matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Harmane?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Harmane.