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Synthetic

4F-MDMB-BINACA

A synthetic cannabinoid, highly potent CB1 agonist, classified as a narcotic. No lawful use.

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.

C₁₉H₂₆FN₃O₃

CAS 2390036-46-9

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

Updated on

In plain terms

4F-MDMB-BINACA is a synthetic cannabinoid made in clandestine laboratories. It does not come from hemp: it is sold in smoking mixtures, vaping liquids or impregnated papers. It acts on the same receptors as THC. It has been found in death and impaired-driving cases in the United States, and it is classed as a narcotic in France.

Receptors and activity

Target network

CB1AgonistEC50 = 7.4 nM · humanβ-arrestin 2 recruitment (nanoluciferase)
  • Activates

The lower the cited value, the closer the target sits to 4F-MDMB-BINACA: 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-BINACA.

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 = 14.3 nM64 out of 100

    WHO, 42nd ECDD, 2019, table 1 (new tab) · [3H]CP-55,940 displacement, HEK cells (data from A. Janowsky cited by WHO)

  2. CB1AgonistEC50 = 7.4 nM · human69 out of 100

    Cannaert et al. 2020, ACS Chem Neurosci (new tab) · β-arrestin 2 recruitment (nanoluciferase)

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-BINACA is an indazole-3-carboxamide with a methyl tert-leucinate head and a 4-fluorobutyl tail. Its detection was first reported in Europe in November 2018 (WHO report); Krotulski et al. (2019) published its first characterisation and detected it in death and impaired-driving cases in the United States. It is an agonist at the CB1 receptor: the WHO report cites Ki = 14.3 nM and EC50 = 0.20 nM with Emax = 67.7% (Δ9-THC: 22.5 nM, 14.2 nM and 82.9%), and Cannaert et al. (2020) measure EC50 = 7.39 nM in β-arrestin 2 recruitment. In 2019, WHO had identified neither in vivo data nor a formal toxicology study. It reports 29 North American toxicology cases (November 2018 to March 2019), including 20 post-mortem and 6 impaired-driving cases, with 5F-MDMB-PICA in 12 cases. Thirteen phase I metabolites have been detected (Haschimi et al. 2019, as reported by WHO); the ester hydrolysis product and its dehydrogenated form are proposed as urinary markers. It has been in Schedule II of the 1971 Convention since CND decision 63/8 (4 March 2020).

Key sources.

History

Source
A wholly synthetic molecule, absent from hemp and from any living organism. According to the WHO report of 2019, synthetic agonists are generally imported from Chinese suppliers and prepared locally as plant-based mixtures; impregnated papers and textiles, some of them containing 4F-MDMB-BINACA, are also smuggled into prisons. The only lawful uses identified are analytical reference standards and research.

Origin

Laboratory synthesis

No known biosynthetic pathway: 4F-MDMB-BINACA is produced by no plant or living organism. It is a synthetic molecule of the indazole-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

indazole-3-carboxamide

Verification

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

Wikipedia (English)

4F-MDMB-BINACA (new tab)

Article paired by the molecule's structure (InChIKey), revision read on 19 October 2026. Read as a second opinion, never cited as a source.

References

  1. WHO, Expert Committee on Drug Dependence, 42nd meeting: critical review report on 4F-MDMB-BINACA (2019) (new tab)
  2. Krotulski et al. · J Forensic Sci 2019 (new tab)PMID 31260580
  3. Haschimi et al. · Drug Test Anal 2019 (new tab)PMID 31228224
  4. Cannaert et al. · ACS Chem Neurosci 2020 (new tab)PMID 33253529
  5. Xu et al. · Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 2025 (new tab)PMID 40945865
  6. CND, decision 63/8 (4 March 2020) (new tab)

Identifiers

Names

IUPAC name
methyl (2S)-2-[[1-(4-fluorobutyl)indazole-3-carbonyl]amino]-3,3-dimethylbutanoate
Other names
4F-MDMB-BUTINACA · 4F-ADB

Identifiers

Formula
C₁₉H₂₆FN₃O₃
CAS
2390036-46-9
PubChem CID
145707216(new tab)
InChIKey
GZGKSDAMWRWYOZ-MRXNPFEDSA-N
SMILES
CC(C)(C)[C@@H](C(=O)OC)NC(=O)C1=NN(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.