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Fenozolone is an oxazoline CNS stimulant closely related to pemoline and aminorex, formerly used as a mood-lifting and anti-fatigue agent. It behaves as an indirect catecholamine-releasing stimulant, increasing dopamine and norepinephrine activity. Like its chemical cousins it is now largely obsolete and controlled or unavailable in most markets.
- Reduced fatigue
- Mood elevation
- Increased alertness
- Cardiovascular strain
- Insomnia
- Appetite suppression
- Anxiety
Overview
Fenozolone is a former prescription stimulant that has transitioned into grey-market status. Once sold legitimately in Europe under the name Ordinator, it no longer holds marketing authorization in the jurisdictions where it was previously available, having been withdrawn from the French market in 1997. It is now encountered primarily as a research chemical offered by online vendors and labeled not for human consumption, meaning its present-day use falls outside any regulatory or medical framework.
Pharmacologically, fenozolone is described as an amphetamine-like agent that increases synaptic availability of dopamine and norepinephrine, and as a member of the oxazolidinone stimulant family it is structurally akin to pemoline. This relationship is relevant to safety, because pemoline is associated with rare instances of serious hepatotoxicity; whether fenozolone carries a comparable liver risk has not been established, but the structural kinship warrants caution. The historical clinical literature is limited and dated, and modern controlled human data are effectively absent.
As with other reintroduced research chemicals, practical knowledge of dosing, tolerability, and long-term effects rests almost entirely on anecdotal accounts rather than rigorous study. Product purity and accuracy of labeling depend on individual suppliers, and no standardized safety monitoring exists. Fenozolone should therefore be viewed as a historically interesting but inadequately characterized stimulant whose contemporary use carries poorly defined risks.
Mechanism
As an aminorex/pemoline-type oxazoline, fenozolone is understood to act as an indirect sympathomimetic, promoting the release of and and inhibiting their reuptake to raise catecholamine levels in arousal, motor, and reward circuits. This produces wakefulness, elevated mood, and appetite suppression. The exact balance of release versus reuptake inhibition is not precisely defined in the literature.
receptor fingerprint
systemIndirect release and reuptake inhibition
systemIndirect release and reuptake inhibition
Safetyrisks and cautions, not medical advice
Expect classic stimulant risks: increased heart rate and blood pressure, insomnia, appetite loss, anxiety, and potential for tolerance and redosing. Related aminorex-type compounds have been linked to pulmonary hypertension, and pemoline to liver toxicity, so the broader oxazoline family carries some serious cautions. Avoid combining with MAOIs or other stimulants due to hypertensive and adrenergic crisis risk. Not medical advice.
History
Fenozolone, marketed under the trade name Ordinator, is a synthetic psychostimulant of the 4-oxazolidinone class and a close structural analogue of pemoline. It was developed by Les Laboratoires Dausse in France during the 1960s and was subsequently sold in several European markets as a prescription stimulant. The evocative brand name Ordinator reflected its intended positioning as an agent to counter fatigue, memory lapses, and transient lapses of attention, and it was promoted for restoring mental drive in states described at the time as intellectual sluggishness. Fenozolone remained in clinical use for several decades before being withdrawn from the French market in 1997, after which it fell out of medical use and later resurfaced as an item in the online research chemical trade.
Reputation
Fenozolone is a largely forgotten pharmaceutical stimulant that survives today chiefly as a niche research chemical. Because it functions as a norepinephrine-dopamine releasing agent and is structurally related to pemoline, it is regarded by nootropic enthusiasts as an amphetamine-like stimulant producing wakefulness, motivation, and appetite suppression.
Anecdotal reports are relatively sparse compared with more popular grey-market stimulants, and users generally describe a functional but unremarkable stimulant experience accompanied by typical adverse effects such as insomnia, restlessness, and cardiovascular stimulation. Contemporary human research is essentially nonexistent, and its withdrawal from legitimate medical use, combined with the hepatotoxicity concerns associated with the broader pemoline family, leads most informed commentators to treat it as an obscure and poorly characterized substance rather than a reliable nootropic.
Subjective profileweighing the evidence above
Obsolete for good reason. Its close chemical relatives are what the family is remembered for; aminorex for pulmonary hypertension and pemoline for liver toxicity. There is no upside here that a better characterized stimulant does not cover more safely.
Resources
This entry is here for reference.
Research
- 1.Determination of the psychostimulants pemoline, fenozolone and thozalinone in human urine by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and thin layer chromatography
- 2.[Effects of levophacetoperane, pemoline, fenozolone, and centrophenoxine on catecholamines and serotonin uptake in various parts of the rat brain]
2 listed here; entry last updated August 2026
Reviews
My notesprivate to this device
FAQ
What is fenozolone related to?
It is an oxazoline stimulant in the same family as pemoline and aminorex, sharing their indirect catecholaminergic action.
Is it still prescribed?
No. It is largely obsolete and controlled or unavailable in most countries.
Are there family-specific risks?
Aminorex relatives raised pulmonary-hypertension concerns and pemoline caused liver issues, so caution is warranted. Not medical advice.
Adverse effects
- Cardiovascular strain
- Insomnia
- Appetite suppression
- Anxiety