L-Norpseudoephedrine, or
(-)-norpseudoephedrine, also referable to as
(-)-threo-ß-hydroxyamphetamine, is a
psychostimulant drug of the
amphetamine family. It is one of the four
optical isomers of
phenylpropanolamine, the other three being
cathine ((+)-norpseudoephedrine),
(-)-norephedrine, and
(+)-norephedrine; as well as one of the two
enantiomers of
norpseudoephedrine (the other, of course, being cathine). Similarly to cathine,
L-norpseudoephedrine acts as a
releasing agent of
norepinephrine (
EC50 = 30 nM) and to a lesser extent of
dopamine (EC
50 = 294 nM). Due to the 10-fold difference in its
potency for inducing the release of the two
neurotransmitters however,
L-norpseudoephedrine could be called a modestly
selective or preferential norepinephrine releasing agent, similarly to related compounds like
ephedrine and
pseudoephedrine.
