CFT was first reported by Clarke and co-workers in 1973. This drug is known to function as a "positive reinforcer" (although it is less likely to be self-administered by rhesus monkeys than cocaine). Tritiated CFT is frequently used to map binding of novel ligands to the
DAT, although the drug also has some
SERT affinity.
Radiolabelled forms of CFT have been used in humans and animals to map the distribution of
dopamine transporters in the
brain. CFT was found to be particularly useful for this application as a normal fluorine atom can be substituted with the radioactive isotope
18F which is widely used in
Positron emission tomography. Another radioisotope-substituted
analog [11C]WIN 35,428 (where the carbon atom of either the N-methyl group, or the
methyl from the 2-carbomethoxy group of CFT, has been replaced with 11C) is now more commonly used for this application, as it is quicker and easier in practice to make radiolabelled CFT by methylating nor-CFT or 2-desmethyl-CFT than by reacting
methylecgonidine with parafluorophenylmagnesium bromide, and also avoids the requirement for a licence to work with the restricted precursor
ecgonine. CFT is about as addictive as cocaine in animal studies, but is taken less often due to its longer duration of action. Potentially this could make it a suitable drug to be used as a substitute for
cocaine, in a similar manner to how
methadone is used as a substitute for
opiates in treating addiction. == Street drug ==