Below is my experience with 2-methyl-2-butanol. I wrote the report as it was happening, so it reflects what I felt at the time and should be more accurate than a report written from memory.
2M2B
Encyclopedic
Encyclopedic
Typical encyclopedia coverage. Cross-reference for important decisions.
- 3 corroborating sources
- 1 ROA with full dose ladder
- duration data present
- toxicity data (PsychonautWiki)
- classified Tentative
Encyclopedic
Typical encyclopedia coverage. Cross-reference for important decisions.
- 3 corroborating sources
- 1 ROA with full dose ladder
- duration data present
- toxicity data (PsychonautWiki)
- classified Tentative
Aliases: Taa, Amylene hydrate, Tert-amyl alcohol, 2-methyl-2-butanol
Summary
2-Methyl-2-butanol (also known as tert-amyl alcohol or 2M2B) is a tertiary alcohol substance that produces depressant, hypnotic, and anxiolytic effects. Historically, it has been used in anesthesia as a component of avertin fluid mixed with tribromoethanol and water. It has a strong solvent smell reminiscent of gasoline and camphor, but with little flavor aside from a burning sensation.
Dose Information
| ROA | Light | Common | Strong | Heavy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral | 1-5mL | 5-10mL | 10-15mL | 15mL+ |
Light
Common
Strong
Heavy
Sources
Oral
Dose ladder — PsychonautWiki (2016)
☠ from 18–30 mL oral
Unconsciousness and deaths reported
“Unconsciousness and fatalities have been reported at doses as low as 18-30 mL. The lowest known fatal dose in humans is 30 mL.” — SubstanceIndex (dose.wiki)
Onset, Duration & After-effects
| ROA | Onset | Peak | Offset | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral | 10-50 min | 6-8 hrs | 4-6 hrs | 8-14 hrs |
Tolerance
Build-up
develops over 1–4 weeks of regular use
Reset
Falls after you stop, at a rate that varies from person to person. If you've been using regularly, cut down gradually with medical help rather than stopping suddenly.
No tolerance chart. Our decay curves for these drugs were estimates, and a curve can make tolerance look longer-lasting than it is, which is the dangerous direction.
How fast tolerance to these drugs fades after a break has not been measured well enough to draw, so don't count on a dose you used to take still being safe: after time off, start with a much smaller amount and don't use alone. Mixing sedatives with each other, with alcohol or with opioids sharply raises the risk of a fatal overdose. If you've been using regularly, don't stop suddenly: withdrawal from benzodiazepines, alcohol or GHB/GBL can cause seizures or delirium, so get medical help to cut down gradually.
Sources: FRANK: benzodiazepines · Alcohol and Drug Foundation: GHB · FDA 2020: benzodiazepine boxed warning · FDA 2019: gabapentinoids and breathing · NHS: alcohol use disorder
Effects
Aggregated from 3 single-substance Erowid experience reports; 2 Erowid reports where another drug was taken too are left out
Each bar shows the share of analyzed reports whose text mentions that effect — a mention is not always a first-hand experience (fear of an effect or something witnessed can count). Mentions saying the effect did not happen are left out; that check reads keywords, so it can miss some. The shaded band on a bar, and the small range after its number, is the 95% interval: where the share could plausibly be with other reports of the same kind. Fewer reports, wider band. Tap or hover any number for details. The second value is the Bluelight extractor's per-effect confidence; a dash means the row is Erowid-derived, which has no confidence measurement.
Too few reports for bars: these effects come from 3 single-substance Erowid reports, and a bar is drawn only from 20 reports or more. With fewer, a percentage cannot tell a common effect from a rare one. Counts are shown instead. Why 20?
Effect glossary — · full glossary
Positive Effects 1
3 of 3
–
Adverse Effects 0
Also reported in combinations. In the 2 2M2B reports where another drug was taken too, 1 mentions hospital, emergency services or an overdose, 0 a seizure and 0 psychosis (too few reports for percentages). In the 3 single-substance reports: 0, 0 and 0. These are not in the figures above: they cannot be put down to 2M2B alone, and a mention is not always something that happened to the writer.
Community Trip Reports
Anecdotal first-person accounts from Reddit, Erowid, Bluelight, and Dose.wiki. Click a source to expand. Reports are harm-reduction context, not medical guidance. Tags summarise each author's own verdict — how reports are classified.
Erowid 5 reports 3 positive 2 cautionary visit
2-methyl-2-butanol First Trial, 4-5-2019 I received the 2m2b in a 100mL bottle. Upon receiving it I opened it and smelled it, and was greeted with the strong odor of rubbing alcohol with a strange, almost minty overtone to it. Going into this experience, my mindset is pretty good.
I wanted to try out 2M2B to see if it would be a legitimate replacement for alcohol. Something to effect euphoria and disinhibit, without the messy effects. Dosed about 22ml of 97.5% 2M2B over the course of about 4hrs.
I recently acquired 100ml of 99.7% pure 2M2B as it is pretty cheap, easy to find, and there are no laws about consumption I could find. Throughout any 2M2B experience I will start burping up the taste and smell of 2M2B, which isn't terrible but it isn't very pleasant either, I will not be recording every time I burp.
Daily medicine for psychiatric problems including anxiety and depression: escitalopram, 20mgs. Lamotrigine, 300mg. Bupropion, 300mg SR. Preface: taking this substance has a lot of unknowns and is inherently risky.
Bluelight 3 threads 2 positive 1 neutral visit
Below is my experience with 2-methyl-2-butanol. I wrote the report as it was happening, so it reflects what I felt at the time and should be more accurate than a report written from memory.
2-methyl-2-butanol First Trial, 4-5-2019 I received the 2m2b in a 100mL bottle. Upon receiving it I opened it and smelled it, and was greeted with the strong odor of rubbing alcohol with a strange, almost minty overtone to it. Going into this experience, my mindset is pretty good.
Recently I've been looking into novel alcohols to try. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get my hands on 2m2b and my choice of solvents was quite slim. After researching my tiny choice of alcohols I figured 2 butanol would be the alcohol for me to try.
2M2B's nerd page
Pharmacology, chemical data, effect profiles, and more
→
Helpful Links
Import into PsychonautWiki Journal
The PsychonautWiki Journal app includes 2M2B, but its built-in data can be thinner than ours. Importing this file adds a separate "2M2B (Substance Search)" custom substance with our dose ranges and durations, so you can log against whichever you prefer. It leaves tolerance out on purpose, for the reason given under Tolerance above.
⬇ Download import file
Import this file as custom substances
and you get "2M2B (Substance Search)" with every
route's full dose ladder and timeline, no typing. Works on iOS and
Android (v15+); the format is confirmed by the app's
developer.
Ranges are harm-reduction guidance, not a prescription.
Report an issue or suggest an edit
Spotted incorrect or dangerous information, have a correction, a new study, or a useful addition for 2M2B? Let us know. Reports are reviewed by moderators — this is not posted publicly.