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Synthetic

AB-FUBINACA

An indazole-3-carboxamide, full agonist at CB1 and CB2; in Schedule II of the 1971 Convention since 2020, a narcotic in France.

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.

C₂₀H₂₁FN₄O₂

CAS 1185282-01-2

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

Updated on

In plain terms

AB-FUBINACA is a synthetic cannabinoid, that is, a molecule made in the laboratory that exists neither in hemp nor in any other plant. It acts on the same receptors as THC. A commercial cannabidiol oil contaminated with this substance was given to a child (case published in 2020). It is classed as a narcotic in France and is in Schedule II of the 1971 Convention.

Receptors and activity

Target network

CB1AgonistKi = 0.4 nM · human[3H]CP-55940 displacement, human CB1
  • Activates

The lower the cited value, the closer the target sits to AB-FUBINACA: 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 AB-FUBINACA.

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 = 0.4 nM · human90 out of 100

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

  2. CB2Agonistno measured value cited
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

AB-FUBINACA belongs to the family of indazole-3-carboxamides with a valinamide chain, known as the FUBINACA group. It behaves as a full agonist at CB1 and CB2 receptors, whereas Δ9-THC is only a partial agonist: at human CB1, the measured affinity is 0.385 nM and the maximal efficacy in [35S]GTPγS is 114% (Sommer et al. 2026). In mice, it produces short-lived cannabinoid tetrad effects, without tolerance but with somatic signs of withdrawal precipitated by rimonabant; the molecule is no longer detectable in the brain 4 h after injection (Trexler et al. 2020). Repeated administration in mice impairs recognition memory with markers of oxidative stress and apoptosis in the hippocampus (Alzu'bi et al. 2024), affects the kidney (Alzu'bi et al. 2025) and reduces testosterone and sperm viability (Alzu'bi et al. 2026). In humans, the literature is limited to observations: a commercial cannabidiol oil contaminated with AB-FUBINACA given to a paediatric patient (Rianprakaisang et al. 2020) and a death involving a mixture of three synthetic cannabinoids and a cathinone, in which AB-FUBINACA was present in the lung at 124 pg/g (Yamagishi et al. 2018). No clinical trial was found in the sources consulted.

Key sources.

History

Source
A wholly synthetic molecule. It exists in no plant, neither in hemp nor elsewhere, and has no known natural origin.

Origin

Laboratory synthesis

No biosynthetic pathway exists: the molecule comes from no living organism and derives from no plant precursor. 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)

AB-FUBINACA (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. Banister et al. · ACS Chem Neurosci 2015 (new tab)PMID 26134475
  2. Longworth et al. · Forensic Toxicol 2016 (new tab)PMID 27547266
  3. Sommer et al. · Addiction 2026 (new tab)PMID 41423817
  4. Trexler et al. · Drug Alcohol Depend 2020 (new tab)PMID 32688070
  5. Kim et al. · Molecules 2020 (new tab)PMID 33050066
  6. Takayama et al. · Biomed Chromatogr 2014 (new tab)PMID 24861751
  7. Minakata et al. · J Anal Toxicol 2021 (new tab)PMID 32886766
  8. Murakami et al. · J Mass Spectrom 2016 (new tab)PMID 27441731
  9. Yamagishi et al. · Leg Med 2018 (new tab)PMID 30268690
  10. Rianprakaisang et al. · Clin Toxicol 2020 (new tab)PMID 31126197
  11. Alzu'bi et al. · Neurotoxicology 2024 (new tab)PMID 38823587
  12. Alzu'bi et al. · Forensic Toxicol 2025 (new tab)PMID 39120650
  13. Alzu'bi et al. · Forensic Toxicol 2026 (new tab)PMID 41083648

Identifiers

Names

IUPAC name
N-[(2S)-1-amino-3-methyl-1-oxobutan-2-yl]-1-[(4-fluorophenyl)methyl]indazole-3-carboxamide

Identifiers

Formula
C₂₀H₂₁FN₄O₂
CAS
1185282-01-2
PubChem CID
58124325(new tab)
InChIKey
AKOOIMKXADOPDA-KRWDZBQOSA-N
SMILES
CC(C)[C@@H](C(=O)N)NC(=O)C1=NN(C2=CC=CC=C21)CC3=CC=C(C=C3)F

Machine-readable entry (JSON)

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