New LSD analogue hit the market: LSZ
LSZ is an analogue of LSD developed by the team led by David E. Nichols at Purdue University. It was developed as a rigid analogue of LSD with the diethylamide group constrained into an azetidine ring in order to map the binding site at the 5-HT2A receptor. There are three possible stereoisomers around the azetidine ring, with the (S,S)-(+) isomer being the most active, slightly more potent than LSD itself in drug discrimination tests using trained rats.[1]
There have been several unconfirmed reports of lysergic acid 2,4-dimethylazetidide being synthesized in illicit laboratories (most likely by chemist William Leonard Pickard) and distributed on blotter paper or in liquid solution under names such as "diazedine" and "λ".
Lysergic acid 2,4-dimethylazetidide (aka LSZ) belongs to a very small group of serotonergic psychedelics that surpass LSD in potency. Aside from the fact that “diazedine” is a lexical clipping of dimethylazetidine (diazedine<dimethylazetidine), the first paper describing the chemistry and pharmacology of LSZ came out of a laboratory at Purdue University, where Leonard had previously studied under the renowned chemist David Nichols. Though the paper was published after Leonard’s arrest, it is still quite likely he was aware of the preliminary research. When I asked Dr. Nichols whether he thought Pickard may have produced LSZ, he replied, “Leonard knew of our work, of that I am certain.” Rumors of LSZ distributed on blotter paper (purportedly under the name λ) have circulated for years, though there are few confirmed reports of its existence. Of course, the name diazedine is ambiguous and could be referring to just about anything, but I would bet a kilo of benzotriazole-1-yl-oxy-tris-pyrrolidino-phosphonium hexafluorophosphate that LSZ and diazedine are one and the same.
