Toshio Hoshino
Toshio Hoshino | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 10 October 1899 |
| Died | 11 February 1979 (aged 79) |
| Alma mater | Tohoku Imperial University (now Tohoku University) |
| Occupation | Chemist |
| Organization | Tokyo Institute of Technology |
| Known for | Synthesis of bufotenin and 5-MeO-DMT, other contributions |
Toshio Hoshino (10 December 1899 – 11 February 1979) is a Japanese chemist who specialized in natural product and polymer chemistry.[1][2] He was a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.[1][2] Among other contributions, Hoshino, along with his colleague Kenya Shimodaira, is notable in being the first to synthesize the psychedelic tryptamines bufotenin (5-HO-DMT) and 5-MeO-DMT (mebufotenin) in 1935 and 1936, respectively.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9] However, the hallucinogenic effects of these compounds and of tryptamines generally did not become known until much later in the 1950s and thereafter.[6][10][11][12][13]
See also
References
- 1 2 Sato K (July 2011). "The one hundred and fifty year history of the Department of Chemistry, the University of Tokyo". Chem Asian J. 6 (7): 1653–1658. doi:10.1002/asia.201100264. PMID 21538908.
While founding the basis of the chemistry of natural products in Japan through research into the ingredients of Japanese lacquer, Majima educated many researchers, including Toshio Hoshino (1899–1979, professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology), who displayed a range of abilities in natural-product synthesis and high-polymer chemistry, and Tetsuo Nozoe (1902–1996, professor at Tohoku University), who conducted research into troponoid. Hoshino, in turn, educated Teruaki Mukaiyama, and Nozoe educated many excellent chemists including Satoru Masamune (professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
- 1 2 Isobe H, Hirama M (November 2023). "Glancing at the birth of a galaxy of scientists from Rikō Majima". Proc Jpn Acad Ser B Phys Biol Sci. 99 (9): 335–351. doi:10.2183/pjab.99.019. PMC 10749390. PMID 37648504.
- ↑ Downing, D. F. (1962). "The chemistry of the psychotomimetic substances". Quarterly Reviews, Chemical Society. 16 (2): 133. doi:10.1039/qr9621600133. ISSN 0009-2681. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
- ↑ Homon A, Laramie J, Hayward JJ, Trant JF (February 2026). "We Licked the Toads so You Don't Have to: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Chemical Syntheses of the Classical Psychedelics Bufotenin(e) and 5-Methoxy-N,N-Dimethyltryptamine". ChemMedChem. 21 (4) e202500525. doi:10.1002/cmdc.202500525. PMID 41765690.
- ↑ Araújo AM, Carvalho F, Bastos Mde L, Guedes de Pinho P, Carvalho M (August 2015). "The hallucinogenic world of tryptamines: an updated review". Arch Toxicol. 89 (8): 1151–1173. doi:10.1007/s00204-015-1513-x. PMID 25877327.
Another known natural tryptamine is bufotenine or 5-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-OH-DMT), an N-alkylated derivative of serotonin and also a structural isomer of psilocin (Chamakura 1994). During World War I, Handovsky (1920) isolated bufotenine, while in 1934 Wieland (Wieland et al. 1934) established its chemical structure and in 1935 Hoshino (Hoshino and Shimodaira 1935) synthesized it for the first time.
- 1 2 Hayes, Caroline (14 April 2025). "A Toad Less Traveled: Should 5-MeO-DMT Have a Role in Treating Depression?". Psychedelic Medicine. doi:10.1089/psymed.2024.0049. ISSN 2831-4425.
5-MeO-DMT was first synthesized in 1936 by Hoshino and Shimodaira 14; however, its psychoactive effects were not discovered for over 20 years.15
- ↑ Ermakova AO, Dunbar F, Rucker J, Johnson MW (March 2022). "A narrative synthesis of research with 5-MeO-DMT". J Psychopharmacol. 36 (3): 273–294. doi:10.1177/02698811211050543. PMC 8902691. PMID 34666554.
5-Methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) is a short-acting serotonergic psychedelic that was first synthesised in 1936 (Hoshino and Shimodaira, 1936) and later isolated from Dictyoloma incanescens in 1959 (Pachter et al., 1959).
- ↑ Hoshino T, Shimodaira K (1935). "Synthese des Bufotenins und über 3-Methyl-3-β-oxyäthyl-indolenin. Synthesen in der Indol-Gruppe. XIV". Justus Liebig's Annalen der Chemie. 520 (1): 19–30. doi:10.1002/jlac.19355200104.
- ↑ Hoshino T, Shimodaira K (1 March 1936). "Über die synthese des bufotenin-methyl-äthers (5-methoxy-n-dimethyl-tryptamin) und bufotenins (synthesen in der indol-gruppe. XV)". Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan. 11 (3): 221–224. doi:10.1246/bcsj.11.221. ISSN 0009-2673.
- ↑ Shen HW, Jiang XL, Winter JC, Yu AM (October 2010). "Psychedelic 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine: metabolism, pharmacokinetics, drug interactions, and pharmacological actions". Curr Drug Metab. 11 (8): 659–666. doi:10.2174/138920010794233495. PMC 3028383. PMID 20942780.
- ↑ de Smet PA (December 1983). "A multidisciplinary overview of intoxicating enema rituals in the western hemisphere". J Ethnopharmacol. 9 (2–3): 129–166. doi:10.1016/0378-8741(83)90031-4. PMID 6677814.
Human experiments with 5-MeO-DMT seem to have been conducted only by Shulgin (1970), who briefly reported that a parenteral dose of 5—10 mg is active and revealed the following details in a letter to the author: [...]
- ↑ Gessner, P. K. (1970). Pharmacological Studies of 5-Methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine, LSD and Other Hallucinogens. Psychotomimetic Drugs, 105–118. https://www.samorini.it/doc1/alt_aut/ek/gessner-pharmacological-studies-of-5-methoxy-dimethyltryptamine-lsd.pdf#page=2 "DR. SHULGIN: We have [5-MeO-DMT] in clinical trial now. It is much more active than dimethyltryptamine. It is much less active than LSD and it is only active parenterally, as is the case with DMT. This is about all I can say. DR. SNYDER: How does it compare with psilocin? DR. SHULGIN: It is more active than psilocin, but I can't say how much more with any confidence. DR. GESSNER: This is all in accord with our data. DR. SHULGIN: We used 5 to 10 mg of 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine; perhaps even a lower dose can be used."
- ↑ Johnson, Cody (5 June 2018). Magic Medicine: A Trip Through the Intoxicating History and Modern-Day Use of Psychedelic Plants and Substances. Fair Winds Press. ISBN 978-1-63159-428-1. Retrieved 21 March 2026.