What is piperazine monohydrochloride?

Does anyone know anything about 1-3(-trifluoromethylphenyl) piperazine monohydrochloride? It is supposedly similar to 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine. Someone posted to Northwest Raves that it was for sale "for research only", unscheduled (i.e. legal), and that 30 mg was equivalent to 200 mg MDMA.

Reply from Dave Nichols

I've seen no human studies to know its effects. It appears to be a rather nonspecific serotonergic agent.

It releases serotonin, and also seems to directly stimulate the 5-HT2A/2C receptors, but supposedly being more selective for the 2C and perhaps only a partial agonist at the 5-HT2A. Its chloro analogue MCPP I know has been given to humans, and the effects, if I remember, were more anxiety-provoking, and were described in one study as "depersonalization." I think TFMPP would clearly have psychoactive effects. The dose range sounds right. It's safety for human use has not been established, but it would likely be safer than MCPP, which has been given to humans, because the trifluoromethyl is quite more inert to metabolism than a chlorine atom.

If I personally were going to try the experiment, I'd start at 5 mg, then 10, 18, and 30, in steps, to assure myself that nothing unpleasant might occur at an initial try of 30.

My personal thinking is that dopamine release is important to the action of ecstasy. I find no references right at hand to suggest that TFMPP has this effect at all. Thus, a priori, I should suspect that its similarity to ecstasy might be remote. There are many people who lack the discrimination to tell the difference between a Lafite-Rothschild 1932 and a Gallo 1997, or perhaps a better analogy would be that they cannot discern the former from a Budweiser. At first blush, my opinion, purely my opinion, would be that TFMPP would have such a 'resemblance' to ecstasy. If in fact TFMPP is very similar, or extremely similar to ecstasy, then I would VERY MUCH like to know that from someone who has discriminating tastes.