Lysergide
Lysergide (Fig. 1A), or LSD as it is more commonly known, is one of the most potent hallucinogenic substances known. Its properties were first discovered in the 1930s and its popularity as a drug of abuse was very high during the 1960s and 1970s, when it was associated with the ‘hippy’ movement.
Synthesis of LSD LSD can be produced by several different methods, the majority of which use lysergic acid as the starting material. Lysergic acid (Fig. 1B) itself is also produced in clandestine laboratories using, most commonly, ergometrine or ergot amine tartrate as the starting material. Reflux of ergotamine with potassium hydroxide solution and hydrazine in an alcohol–water mixture produces lysergic acid. The methods used for the production of LSD yield a crude product, which is cleaned up and converted into a more stable form (e.g. tartrate salt).
In the past, LSD was encountered in a variety of substrates, including powder in gelatine capsules, gelatine squares, sugar cubes and microdots. Nowadays, LSD is encountered mostly in paper dose form. The paper dosages are produced by soaking pre-printed paper in a solution of LSD. These sheets are then perforated into squares (typically 5 mm x 5 mm) with each square (‘tab’) containing approximately 50 lg of LSD.
The designs on the paper can vary from one design per square to one large design that covers many squares (Fig. 2). LSD is an exceedingly potent drug, with doses of about 25–50 lg producing psychological effects such as alterations in perception such that colours, sound, sense of time, etc. appear distorted. LSD acts on various 5-hydroxytrypta mine (5-HT; serotonin) receptor subtypes and is thought to act as a 5-HT agonist in the CNS.
Figure 1 (A) LSD; (B) lysergic acid.
Figure 2 Examples of LSD paper squares.
