1-(3-Chlorophenyl)-4-(2-phenylethyl)piperazine
1--4-piperazine is a designer drug of the piperazine class of chemical substances. 3C-PEP is related to meta-cholorophenylpiperazine and phenethylamine which can be thought of as mCPP having a phenylethyl group attached to the nitrogen atom at its 4-position. It was first described in 1994 in a patent disclosing a series of piperazine compounds as sigma receptor ligands. Later, it was discovered to be a highly potent dopamine reuptake inhibitor.
Pharmacology
3C-PEP is one of the most potent dopamine transporter ligands reported to date. It is highly selective for the dopamine transporter with relatively low affinity for the closely related norepinephrine transporter and the serotonin transporter. In addition, the compound has lower affinity for the PCP/NMDA receptor, D2-like receptors, serotonin 5-HT2 receptors, and opioid receptors.With a DAT dissociation constant K of 0.04 nM, 3C-PEP is one of the most potent dopamine transporter ligands described to date in the literature. In comparison, cocaine which is a prototypical DAT ligand and reuptake inhibitor has a dissociation constant K of 435 nm thus making 3C-PEP about 10,000 times more potent than cocaine as a dopamine transporter inhibitor in vitro.