Oberlender personallyself-experimented with some of thepsychoactive drugssynthesized in the Nichols lab.[3] In the mid-1990s, he tried the obscure psychedelictryptamine5-MeO-pyr-T, asyntheticanalogue of5-MeO-DMT, and accidentallytook too high of a dose of it without atrip sitter present.[3] While under the influence of 5-MeO-pyr-T, Oberlender stripped naked, began wandering the Purdue University campus in afugue state, and was apprehended by campus police.[3] His case did not end up going to court, but the incident did result in Oberlender having to leave Nichols's lab.[3] Hisexperience with 5-MeO-pyr-T was subsequently published anonymously inAlexander Shulgin's 1997 bookTiHKAL (Tryptamines I Have Known and Loved).[3][7] The chemist publicly shared further details of the incident during an interview with psychedelic journalistHamilton Morris in 2021, describing it as a cautionary tale of the risks of self-experimentation with little-known psychoactive drugs and the importance of careful dose escalation and of having a trip sitter.[3]
After leaving the Nichols lab, Oberlender worked as anassistant professor of medicinal chemistry at theUniversity of the Pacific inStockton, California.[2][3] In 2000, he joined New River Pharmaceuticals inBlacksburg, Virginia and served as a director ofdrug misuse science.[2][3] While at New River Pharmaceuticals, Oberlender had a key role in discovering and developing the misuse-resistantdextroamphetamineprodrug and psychostimulantlisdexamfetamine, which had the developmental code nameNRP-104.[2][3] Oberlender and colleaguespatented lisdexamfetamine in 2006 and 2007.[8][9] New River Pharmaceuticals was purchased byShire in 2007.[10] That same year, lisdexamfetamine was initially approved and introduced for medical use under the brand name Vyvanse in theUnited States.[10][11] Following these events, Oberlender started working at Synthonics in Blackburg, Virginia and began developing metal-coordinated pharmaceutical drugs at the company.[2]
Nichols, David E.; Oberlender, Robert (5 January 1984). "Behavioral Techniques in Neuroreceptor Research".Frontiers of Neurology and Neuroscience. Vol. 10. S. Karger AG. pp. 108–119.doi:10.1159/000408385.ISBN978-3-8055-3715-5.PMID6321967.{{cite book}}:|journal= ignored (help)
Nichols DE, Oberlender R (1990). "Structure-activity relationships of MDMA and related compounds: a new class of psychoactive drugs?".Ann N Y Acad Sci.600:613–623, discussion 623–625.doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-1485-1_7.PMID1979214.
Nichols DE, Johnson MP, Oberlender R (January 1991). "5-Iodo-2-aminoindan, a nonneurotoxic analogue of p-iodoamphetamine".Pharmacol Biochem Behav.38 (1):135–139.doi:10.1016/0091-3057(91)90601-w.PMID1826785.
Oberlender R, Pfaff RC, Johnson MP, Huang XM, Nichols DE (January 1992). "Stereoselective LSD-like activity in d-lysergic acid amides of (R)- and (S)-2-aminobutane".J Med Chem.35 (2):203–211.doi:10.1021/jm00080a001.PMID1732537.
^abOberlender R, Ramachandran PV, Johnson MP, Huang X, Nichols DE (September 1995). "Effect of a chiral 4-alkyl substituent in hallucinogenic amphetamines".J Med Chem.38 (18):3593–3601.doi:10.1021/jm00018a019.PMID7658446.
^Roncero C, Álvarez FJ (August 2014). "The use of lisdexamfetamine dimesylate for the treatment of ADHD and other psychiatric disorders".Expert Rev Neurother.14 (8):849–865.doi:10.1586/14737175.2014.932691.PMID24948428.
