2C (
2C-x) is a general name for the family of
psychedelic phenethylamines containing
methoxy groups on the 2 and 5
positions of a
benzene ring. Most of these compounds also carry
lipophilic substituents at the 4 position, usually resulting in more potent and more
metabolically stable and longer acting compounds. Most of the currently known 2C compounds were first synthesized by
Alexander Shulgin in the 1970s and 1980s and published in his book
PiHKAL (
Phenethylamines i Have Known And Loved). Shulgin also invented the term 2C, being an
acronym for the 2 carbon atoms between the benzene ring and the
amino group.