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A
CHEMICAL
LOVE STORY
Alexander Ann
Shulgin Shulgin
TRANSFORM
PRESS
Copyright© 1991, 1992, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012
by Alexander Shulgin and Ann Shulgin
Printed in the United States of America.
All rights reserved. No part of this book
may be reproduced in any form without written
permission.
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BOX 13675
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Additional copies may be purchased on our website.
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Edited by Dan Joy
Cover by Pamela Engebretson
First Edition, Tenth Printing
ISBN: 0-9630096-0-5
ISBN 13: 978-0-9630096-0-9
phen-ethyl-amine \ fen-‘eth-al-a-,men \ n. [phenyl fr. F.
phene, fr. Gk. phainein, to show (from its occurrence in
illuminating gas)+ ethyl (ether + yl) + amine fr. NL am
monia] 1: A naturally occurring compound found in both
the animal and plant kingdoms. It is an endogenous com
ponent of the human brain. 2: Any of a series of com
pounds containing the phenethylamine skeleton, and
modified by chemical constituents at appropriate posi
tions in the molecule.
vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Definition V
Table of Contents vii
Foreword ix
Note to Reader xi
Search for a Title xii
Preface xiii
Introduction xiv
BOOK I – The Love Story
Part One: SHURA’S VOICE
1 Thumb 1
2 Mescaline 15
3 Burt 18
4 TMA 22
5 Blackwood Arsenal 26
6 MMDA 31
7 The Captain 41
8 MEM 47
9 DOM 53
10 Peter Mille 57
11 Andrew 60
12 MDMA 66
13 Time Stop 75
14 Aleph-I 80
15 Tennessee 88
Part Two: ALICE’S VOICE
16 Spiral 98
17 Cactus 104
18 The Beginning 132
viii
19 Seduction 148
20 Door Closing 166
21 Door Opening 171
22 Window 181
23 The Group 205
24 2C-B 218
25 Dragons 223
26 Fungus 230
27 Siberia 240
28 A World of Light 249
29 The Letter 277
30 Ending 286
31 Volcano 300
32 Transition 307
33 Resolution 319
34 The Fourth 330
Part Three: BOTH VOICES
35 Aachen 335
36 5-TOM 345
37 Fugue 358
38 Crisis 365
39 Dante, Ginger and God 410
40 Mortality 419
41 2C-T-4 428
42 Lecture at the University 434
BOOK II – The Chemical Story
Index 453
The Chemical Story 458
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Long Index to Book II 925
Appendix B: Glossary 957
Appendix C: Acknowledgements 969
ix
FOREWORD
This book will be different things to different people. There has never
been a work like it, and since recent legislative acts in this country have
closed off the avenues of inquiry that made this one possible we may not
soon, if ever, see another of its kind. Although it is doubtful that it will
ever make the best seller list, no library of psychedelic literature will
henceforth be complete without a copy of PIHKAL.
For nearly thirty years one of the authors, Dr. Alexander Shulgin,
affectionately known to his friends as Sasha, has been the only person in
the world to synthesize, then evaluate in himself, his wife Ann, and in a
dedicated group of close friends, nearly 200 never-before-known chemical
structures, materials expected to have effects in man similar to those of the
mind-altering psychedelic drugs, mescaline, psilocybin and LSD. On the
west coast, Sasha has assumed almost folk-hero status. Others regard him
variously as courageous, foolhardy, or downright dangerous, depending
mostly on the political persuasion of the critic. However, all would have
to agree that Sasha Shulgin is a most remarkable individual. This writing
collaboration with his wife Ann will be enjoyed, not only by their friends,
but also by those who have heard about “Sasha” but don’t have a clue as to
who he really is. More importantly, this is a tale of self-discovery, accom
panied by the faint stirrings of a technology that is yet to be fully born,
much less developed.
The beginning of PIHKAL is autobiographical, detailing the lives of
two fictional characters, Dr. Alexander Borodin, known to his friends by
the Russian diminutive “Shura,” and Alice, later his wife. In the first two
parts, Shura and Alice describe the individual life paths which led each of
them to a fascination with psychedelics and, ultimately, to their fascina
tion with each other. In Part III, they chronicle more than a decade of their
adventures together, journeys often catalyzed by the ingestion of one of
Shura’ s new chemical compounds.
One cannot be certain of the exact extent to which Shura and Alice
mirror Sasha and Ann, hut the richness of imagery, detail of thought,
openly expressed emotions, and moments of intimacy clearly give insight
into the personalities of the two people I know. These details serve to
X
show that Shura and Alice’s research has been an honest search for meaning
in life. Their pain in lost relationships, in failed marriages, and their love
and caring for each other paint a picture of two extraordinary and very
feeling human beings.
The second half of the book is an almost encyclopedic compendium of
synthetic methods, dosages, durations of action, and commentaries for 179
different chemical materials. These essentially represent transcriptions of
Sasha’s laboratory notebooks, with some additional material culled from
the scientific literature. Some day in the future, when it may again be
acceptable to use chemical tools to study the mind, this book will be a
treasure-house, a sort of sorcerer’s book of spells, to delight and enchant
the psychiatrist/ shaman of tomorrow.
David E. Nichols, Ph. D.
Professor of Medicinal Chemistry
West Lafayette, Indiana
xi
NOTE TO THE READER
With this book, PIHKAL, we are making available a body of informa
tion concerning the conception, synthesis, definition, and appropriate use
of certain consciousness-changing chemical compounds which we are
convinced are valuable tools for the study of the human mind and psyche.
At the present time, restrictive laws are in force in the United States
and it is very difficult for researchers to abide by the regulations which
govern efforts to obtain legal approval to do work with these compounds
in human beings. Consequently there has been almost no clinical research
conducted in this area for almost thirty years. However, animal studies
can be done by the approved and qualified scientist who finds sources of
research funding and who appeals to and obtains his supplies of drugs
from an appropriate government agency such as the National Institute on
Drug Abuse.
Approximately half of the recipes in Book II of PIHKAL have already
been published in a number of respected scientific journals. The rest will
be submitted for publication in the near future.
No one who is lacking legal authorization should attempt the synthe
sis of any of the compounds described in the second half of this book, with
intent to give them to man. To do so is to risk legal action which might
lead to the tragic ruination of a life. It should also be noted that any person
anywhere who experiments on himself, or on another human being, with
any one of the drugs described herein, without being familiar with that
drug’s action and aware of the physical and/or mental disturbance or
harm it might cause, is acting irresponsibly and immorally, whether or not
he is doing so within the bounds of the law.
We strongly urge that a continuing effort be made by those who care
about freedom of inquiry and the search for knowledge, to work toward
changes in the present drug laws, particularly in the United States. Open
inquiry, and creative exploration of this important area of research, must
be not only allowed but encouraged. It is essential that our present nega
tive propaganda regarding psychedelic drugs be replaced with honesty
and truthfulness about their effects, both good and bad.
There is much that we need to understand about the human psyche,
and this book is dedicated to the pursuit of that understanding.

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