chemistry

Trichocereine

Trichocereine 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 Trichocereine rather than just read about it. In short: Trichocereine, or trichocerine, also known as N,N-dimethyl-3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine or as N,N-dimethylmescaline (MM-M), is a phenethylamine alkaloid that is found in several plant species and is closely related to the psychedelic drug mescaline (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine). Use and effects In contrast to mescaline, trichocereine has been found to lack psychoactive effects in humans even at large doses.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Trichocereine, or trichocerine, also known as N,N-dimethyl-3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine or as N,N-dimethylmescaline (MM-M), is a phenethylamine alkaloid that is found in several plant species and is closely related to the psychedelic drug mescaline (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine).

Use and effects In contrast to mescaline, trichocereine has been found to lack psychoactive effects in humans even at large doses. F. P. Ludueña assessed trichocereine hydrochloride in the mid-1930s and found that it produced no effects, with the exception of slight gastric heaviness, at doses of up 9 mg/kg orally (630 mg for a 70-kg person) and up to 550 mg parenterally. On the other hand, M. Vojtĕchovský and D. Krus assessed trichocereine in the 1960s at doses of up to 800 mg (presumably orally) and found that it was weaker than 400 mg mescaline. They also tried 400 mg trichocereine sublingually and reported that it produced moderate psychedelic effects with a one-hour onset (compared to two hours for mescaline) and a "proportionally shorter" duration than mescaline or a duration of one hour. According to Alexander Shulgin however, these psychoactive effects were ill-defined and it was felt that they might have been attributable to anxiety. Shulgin has noted that Trichocereus terscheckii, which contains trichocereine as its major constituent, is commonly consumed in large amounts by humans and animals as a water source without obvious consequences. It has been noted that N-methylation of psychedelic phenethylamines, for instance Beatrice (N-methyl-DOM), has invariably reduced hallucinogenic bioactivity.

Interactions

Pharmacology

Pharmacodynamics Trichocereine showed no activity in the conditioned avoidance test in rodents. It has been reported to substitute for mescaline in rodent drug discrimination tests. Trichocereine at a dose of 50 mg/kg intraperitoneally produced full substitution for mescaline (25 mg/kg) in these tests, whereas it only transiently substituted for mescaline when given intracerebroventricularly. It produces convulsions in cats and causes marked excitation similar to that induced by amphetamine in rodents. Other pharmacological effects of trichocereine have also been described.

Chemistry

Synthesis The chemical synthesis of trichocereine has been described.

Analogues Analogues of trichocereine (N,N-dimethylmescaline) include mescaline, N-methylmescaline, N-formylmescaline, N,N-diformylmescaline, N-acetylmescaline, mescaloxylic acid, mescaloruvic acid, macromerine (β-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyl-DMPEA), 3-hydroxy-N,N-dimethylphenethylamine (LSM-6), and methyl-TMA (N-methyl-TMA), among others.

Natural occurrence

Trichocereine was first reported in the Trichocereus terscheckii cactus in 1935 and was subsequently isolated from Gymnocalycium spp. and Turbinicarpus spp. cacti. Additionally, it has been found in the shrubs Acacia berlandieri and Acacia rigidula, though these findings are questionable. The compound is the major alkaloid present in Trichocereus terscheckii. It has never been reported in peyote (Lophophora williamsii).

History Trichocereine was first described in the scientific literature by F. P. Ludueña by 1935.

Society and culture

Legal status

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

United States Trichocereine 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.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Trichocereine

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Trichocereine 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 Trichocereine 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 Trichocereine 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 Trichocereine

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

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Trichocereine in simple terms?

Why does Trichocereine 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 Trichocereine?

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 Trichocereine.