Ketamine is an arylcyclohexylamine dissociative. It is a chiral molecule, and, therefore, can come in many different proportions. The most biologically active enantiomer is esketamine or (S)-ketamine.
Ketamine has been used as an anesthetic in the Vietnam War, where it was used as a battlefield anesthetic. It is still widely used in humans, and found its way into veternary medicine, as well.
Illicit use of ketamine has spurred many countries to schedule ketamine as an illicit drug or a drug with a high potential for recreational abuse. Being a dissociative, ketamine is often used for its hallucinogenic psychoactivity. Ketamine is a noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist.