α-phip α-phip α-phip (also known as α-pihp), is a stimulant drug of the cathinone class that has been sold online as a designer drug. it is a positional isomer of pyrovalerone, with the methyl group shifted from the 4-position of the aromatic ring to the 4-position of the acyl chain. in a classic 2006 study of pyrrolidinyl cathinone derivatives by meltzer et al. at organix, the alpha-isobutyl derivative of pyrovalerone, o-2494, was found to have the highest potency in vitro as an inhibitor of the dopamine transporter of the alpha substituted derivatives tested, however it was not until ten years later in july 2016 that α-phip was first identified as a designer drug, when it was reported to the emcdda by a forensic laboratory in slovenia. α-phiplegal statuslegal status ca: schedule i de: npsg (industrial and scientific use only) uk: class b us: schedule i (positional isomer of a-php) identifiers iupac name 4-methyl-1-phenyl-2-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)pentan-1-one cas number2181620-71-1pubchem cid59809191chemspider68006957unii9af2ihv9hkchemical and physical dataformulac16h23nomolar mass245.366 g·mol−13d model (jsmol)interactive image smiles cc(c)cc(c(=o)c1ccccc1)n2cccc2 inchi inchi=1s/c16h23no/c1-13(2)12-15(17-10-6-7-11-17)16(18)14-8-4-3-5-9-14/h3-5,8-9,13,15h,6-7,10-12h2,1-2h3key:uozwzanrcoalql-uhfffaoysa-n