PiHKAL

PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story is a book authored by Alexander Shulgin and Ann Shulgin which was first published in 1991. The title is an acronym that stands for "Phenethylamines I Have Known And Loved."

Overview

PiHKAL is divided into two parts. The first part, which is a semi-autobiographical novel, details the authors' personal experiences and experiments with phenethylamines. The second part is a detailed synthesis manual for 179 different psychedelic compounds (most of which Shulgin discovered himself), including their chemical structures, dosage recommendations, and qualitative comments.

Content

The narrative of the first part of the book is divided into chapters associated with different places and stages in the authors' lives, each of which is introduced by a detailed synthesis description for a particular phenethylamine. The second part of PiHKAL is a detailed manual for the synthesis of 179 psychedelic compounds. Shulgin's pioneering work in the "rational drug design" of psychedelic drugs is documented in his extensive chemistry section.

Reception

PiHKAL, along with its sequel TiHKAL (Tryptamines I Have Known And Loved), have been influential in the resurgence of interest in psychedelic research since their publication. While the legality of the drugs described in the books varies worldwide, many of them have been declared illegal in the United States.

See also

• Alexander Shulgin
• Ann Shulgin
• Phenethylamines
• Psychedelic compounds
• TiHKAL

External links

• PiHKAL at Erowid