chemistry

Metaescaline

Metaescaline is a chemistry 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 Metaescaline rather than just read about it. In short: Metaescaline (ME), also known as 3-ethoxy-4,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine, is a psychedelic drug of the phenethylamine and scaline families related to mescaline. It is the analogue of mescaline in which the methoxy group at the 3 position has been replaced with an ethoxy group.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Metaescaline (ME), also known as 3-ethoxy-4,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine, is a psychedelic drug of the phenethylamine and scaline families related to mescaline. It is the analogue of mescaline in which the methoxy group at the 3 position has been replaced with an ethoxy group. The drug is also the positional isomer of escaline in which the methoxy group at the 3 (meta) position and the ethoxy group at the 4 position have been interchanged.

Use and effects In his book PiHKAL (Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved), Alexander Shulgin lists metaescaline's dose as 200 to 350 mg orally and its duration as 8 to 12 hours. Its onset was described as slow and ranged from 0.5 to 1.5 hours. The drug's potency is similar to that of mescaline. The effects of metaescaline were reported to include brightening of colors, mildly heightened visual awareness and quite heightened auditory awareness, no closed-eye imagery to significant closed-eye visuals, visual distortions such as walls dissolving, thinking changes, associative thinking, introspection, and insights. Other effects included a "marvelous feeling inside", euphoria, feeling energetic, easy talking and talkativeness, relaxation, disinhibition, feeling connected and bonded with others, and subjective effects being more based in feelings than cognitive. No hangover was reported. It was said that no one was reluctant to repeat the experience. Alcohol was reported to potentiate or rekindle the effects of metaescaline in a TOMSO-like manner in one report. Metaescaline was variously described as a "sterner mescaline" and as "not dramatic like some psychedelics". Unlike mescaline or peyote, there was little body discomfort, no nausea, and only occasional hyperreflexia. In addition, metaescaline was said to have less exaggeration of color perception than mescaline and that music was associated with little imagery in contrast to mescaline. The transference characteristic of MDMA were said to be basically absent, but it was felt that metaescaline might nonetheless be useful for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy purposes.

Interactions

Chemistry

Synthesis The chemical synthesis of metaescaline has been described.

Analogues Analogues of metaescaline include mescaline, escaline, metaproscaline, asymbescaline, symbescaline, and trisescaline (trescaline), among others.

History Metaescaline was mentioned in the literature by Abram Hoffer and Humphrey Osmond in their 1967 book The Hallucinogens. It was subsequently described by Alexander Shulgin and Peyton Jacob III in 1984. Following this, metaescaline was described in greater detail by Shulgin in his 1991 book PiHKAL (Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved).

Society and culture

Legal status

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

United States Metaescaline is not an explicitly controlled substance in the United States. However, it could be considered a controlled substance under the Federal Analogue Act if intended for human consumption. In addition, it may be considered scheduled as a positional isomer of 3,4,5-trimethoxyamphetamine (TMA) and escaline.

See also Scaline TWEETIO § Scalines MME (TMA2-5-EtO)

References

External links Metaescaline - Isomer Design Metaescaline - PiHKAL - Erowid Metaescaline - PiHKAL - Isomer Design

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Metaescaline

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Metaescaline claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, 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 Metaescaline 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 Metaescaline 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 Metaescaline

In research: Metaescaline appears in chemistry 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 Metaescaline 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: Metaescaline is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Drugs not assigned an ATC code, Ethoxy compounds, Methoxy compounds, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Metaescaline 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 Metaescaline in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Metaescaline 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 Metaescaline out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Metaescaline in simple terms?

Why does Metaescaline matter?

Because it connects several chemistry 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 Metaescaline?

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 Metaescaline.