Tryptamines

Tryptamines are a group of organic compounds that are based on a tryptamine core structure.

The class is composed of all derivative compounds that can be formed by substituting one or more hydrogen atoms in the core structure with other substituents. Naturally occurring tryptamines are found in many plants and animals. These are formed from the decarboxylation of the essential amino acid tryptophan.

The tryptamine class is composed of a huge variety of compounds, many of which are fundamentally important to human biology like serotonin (the “happy hormone”) and melatonin (the “sleep hormone”).

Some psychoactive tryptamines can be found in nature, like DMT (dimethyltryptamine) and 5-MeO-DMT (which both can be found in the human body), while many others have been discovered through chemical synthesis in recent years.

For more information about 4-HO-MET and 5-MeO-DMT please read our in-depth ultimate guides to 4-HO-MET and 5-MeO-DMT respectively.