Chemoenzymatic synthesis of 5-methylpsilocybin: A tryptamine with potential psychedelic activity.

Fricke J, Sherwood AM, Halberstadt AL, Kargbo RB, Hoffmeister D (2021) Chemoenzymatic synthesis of 5-methylpsilocybin: A tryptamine with potential psychedelic activity. J Nat Prod 84(4), 1403-1408.

Abstract

A novel analogue of psilocybin was produced by hybrid chemoenzymatic synthesis in sufficient quantity to enable bioassay. Utilizing purified 4-hydroxytryptamine kinase from Psilocybe cubensis, chemically synthesized 5-methylpsilocin (2) was enzymatically phosphorylated to provide 5-methylpsilocybin (1). The zwitterionic product was isolated from the enzymatic step with high purity utilizing a solvent-antisolvent precipitation approach. Subsequently, 1 was tested for psychedelic-like activity using the mouse head-twitch response assay, which indicated activity that was more potent than the psychedelic dimethyltryptamine, but less potent than that of psilocybin.

Leibniz-HKI-Autor*innen

Janis Fricke
Dirk Hoffmeister

Identifier

doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.1c00087

PMID: 33667102