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Synthetic

4F-MDMB-BICA

An indole synthetic cannabinoid, a full CB1 agonist, classified as a narcotic and linked to deaths.

Narcotic: named in schedule
Level of detail

Harm-reduction warning

No characterised human dose: animal / in vitro data only. Effect profile, safety margin and acute toxicity are not documented in human clinical practice. Extremely potent compound: severe effects, seizures and deaths reported in the literature.

C₂₀H₂₇FN₂O₃

CAS 2682867-53-2

Family
Synthetic CB receptor agonistNew psychoactive substance
Molar mass
362.44 g/mol

Updated on

In plain terms

4F-MDMB-BICA is a synthetic cannabinoid made in the laboratory, with no link to hemp: it is found neither in cannabis nor in cannabidiol products. Sold as smoking mixtures, vaping liquids or impregnated paper, it acts on the same receptors as THC. One Member State of the Union reported 21 deaths associated with this substance between May and August 2020, and it is classed as a narcotic in France.

Receptors and activity

Target network

CB1AgonistKi = 5.7 nM · human[3H]CP-55940 displacement, human CB1
  • Activates

The lower the cited value, the closer the target sits to 4F-MDMB-BICA: one ring per factor of 100. A target with no measured value stays on the edge.

Where these targets live

Where each target has been found in humans, according to the cited studies. The map shows the target, not an effect of 4F-MDMB-BICA.

Brain, side view
Body, front view
Blood

CB1CB1 found in 7 regions of the body

  1. Basal gangliadenseMost dense in basal ganglia outflow nuclei1
  2. CerebellumdenseVery dense in the cerebellum1
  3. HippocampusdenseVery high concentrations in the hippocampus2
  4. AmygdaladenseHigh concentrations in the amygdala2
  5. CortexpresentPresent throughout the neocortex2
  6. Adipose tissuepresentExpressed in adipose tissue3
  7. GutpresentColonic epithelium, smooth muscle and plexus4

Map sources

  1. Herkenham M et al. Cannabinoid receptor localization in brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 1990 (new tab)
  2. Glass M et al. Cannabinoid receptors in the human brain: a detailed anatomical and quantitative autoradiographic study in the fetal, neonatal and adult human brain. Neuroscience, 1997 (new tab)
  3. Engeli S et al. Activation of the peripheral endocannabinoid system in human obesity. Diabetes, 2005 (new tab)
  4. Wright K et al. Differential expression of cannabinoid receptors in the human colon: cannabinoids promote epithelial wound healing. Gastroenterology, 2005 (new tab)

Cited values

  1. CB1AgonistKi = 5.7 nM · human71 out of 100

    Sommer et al. 2026, Addiction (new tab) · [3H]CP-55940 displacement, human CB1

  2. CB1AgonistEC50 = 137 nM · human48 out of 100

    Sommer et al. 2026, Addiction (new tab) · [35S]GTPγS, human CB1

Bar length follows the measured value (Ki, Kd, EC50 or IC50), on one scale shared by every entry, from 100 µM to 0.1 nM. A target with no cited value has no bar.

Pharmacology

4F-MDMB-BICA belongs to the recent generation of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists of the indole-3-carboxamide class: an indole ring, a 4-fluorobutyl tail, a carboxamide linker and a methyl tert-leucinate head. Available in the Union since at least March 2020, it had been detected in eleven Member States, with 94 seizures (Delegated Directive (EU) 2021/802). In vitro, it behaves as a full agonist at the CB1 receptor, with an efficacy higher than that of the JWH-018 reference (Cannaert et al. 2020) but a modest potency compared with other synthetic agonists: EC50 of 137 nM in [35S]GTPγS and an affinity of 5.67 nM at human CB1 (Sommer et al. 2026). In rodents, it is more potent than Δ9-THC at depressing locomotor activity and at substituting for it in a discrimination test (Shetty et al. 2026). One Member State reported 21 deaths associated with 4F-MDMB-BICA between May and August 2020; because the substance is not routinely screened for, identifying it in biological samples remains difficult (Caré et al. 2025). No controlled human study was found in the sources consulted. The major metabolites, produced by hydrolysis of the ester, lose most of their affinity for CB1 (Dvorácskó et al. 2023).

Key sources.

History

Source
A wholly synthetic molecule, absent from cannabis and from any living organism. According to Delegated Directive (EU) 2021/802, it is sold online, in small and wholesale amounts, as a « legal » replacement for cannabis and for controlled synthetic cannabinoids, mainly as finished products: smoking mixtures, e-liquids or impregnated paper. None of this relates to hemp or cannabidiol products.

Origin

Laboratory synthesis

No known biosynthetic pathway: the molecule is produced by no living organism. It is a synthetic molecule of the indole-3-carboxamide class, described here by its chemical class only.

Classification

Family, origin and source verification

Family

Synthetic CB receptor agonist › New psychoactive substance

Class

indole-3-carboxamide

Verification

Classification, sources and binding values checked on 20 October 2026; text read against its sources and Wikipedia.

Wikipedia (English)

No dedicated article.

References

  1. Cannaert et al. · ACS Chem Neurosci 2020 (new tab)PMID 33253529
  2. Körmöczi et al. · J Anal Toxicol 2021 (new tab)PMID 33404059
  3. Sommer et al. · Addiction 2026 (new tab)PMID 41423817
  4. Dvorácskó et al. · Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 2023 (new tab)PMID 37182749
  5. Xu et al. · Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 2025 (new tab)PMID 40945865
  6. Shetty et al. · J Cannabis Res 2026 (new tab)PMID 41526973
  7. Caré et al. · J Anal Toxicol 2025 (new tab)PMID 40036602
  8. Delegated Directive (EU) 2021/802 of 12 March 2021 (new tab)
  9. ANSM, decision of 9 December 2021 amending the list of substances classified as narcotics (new tab)

Identifiers

Names

IUPAC name
methyl (2S)-2-[[1-(4-fluorobutyl)indole-3-carbonyl]amino]-3,3-dimethylbutanoate
Other names
4F-MDMB-BUTICA · MDMB-4F-BICA

Identifiers

Formula
C₂₀H₂₇FN₂O₃
CAS
2682867-53-2
PubChem CID
157010663(new tab)
InChIKey
QIKHYQCWGUGFBB-QGZVFWFLSA-N
SMILES
CC(C)(C)[C@@H](C(=O)OC)NC(=O)C1=CN(C2=CC=CC=C21)CCCCF

Machine-readable entry (JSON)

LLM ingestion format: a structured superset of the entry (identifiers, binding, versioned legal status). Full corpus.