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Synthetic

AB-PINACA

A full agonist at CB1 and CB2 of the PINACA class; in Schedule II of the 1971 Convention since 2018, 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.

C₁₈H₂₆N₄O₂

CAS 1445752-09-9

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

Updated on

In plain terms

AB-PINACA is a molecule made in the laboratory, with no link to hemp. It acts on the same receptors as THC. In a series of 58 suspected impaired drivers in the United States (cases linked to AB-CHMINACA or AB-PINACA), most drove very poorly, had had an accident or were found unconscious in their vehicle. It is classed as a narcotic in France.

Receptors and activity

Target network

CB1AgonistKi = 2.9 nM · human[3H]CP55,940 displacement, human CB1
  • Activates

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

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 = 2.9 nM · human76 out of 100

    Wiley et al. 2015, J Pharmacol Exp Ther (new tab) · [3H]CP55,940 displacement, human CB1

  2. CB2AgonistKi = 0.9 nM · human84 out of 100

    Wiley et al. 2015, J Pharmacol Exp Ther (new tab) · [3H]CP55,940 displacement, human CB2

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-PINACA is an indazole-3-carboxamide with a valinamide head and an N-pentyl chain. It is a full agonist at CB1 and CB2 receptors: Wiley et al. (2015) measure Ki = 2.87 nM at CB1 and 0.88 nM at CB2, a CB1 efficacy higher than that of most known full agonists, and complete substitution for Δ9-THC in mice (ED50 of 3.78 µmol/kg against 5.7 µmol/kg for Δ9-THC). Banister et al. (2015) characterised it with other carboxamides and showed dose-dependent hypothermia and bradycardia in rats, reversed by a CB1 antagonist. In humans, the data come from case reports: Armenian et al. (2018) describe six people exposed in an isolated setting, including two confirmed cases for AB-PINACA and ADB-PINACA, with impaired consciousness, agitation and seizures; Peterson and Couper (2015) measured AB-PINACA in the blood of 25 drivers (0.6 to 41.3 ng/mL). No controlled human administration study was found in the sources consulted.

Key sources.

History

Source
A synthetic molecule with no plant origin, found in « spice »-type smoking products (Arbouche et al. 2019).

Origin

Laboratory synthesis

No known biological pathway: AB-PINACA derives from no plant or animal metabolism and does not exist in nature. 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-PINACA (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. Wiley et al. · J Pharmacol Exp Ther 2015 (new tab)PMID 26105953
  2. Banister et al. · ACS Chem Neurosci 2015 (new tab)PMID 26134475
  3. Wohlfarth et al. · AAPS J 2015 (new tab)PMID 25721194
  4. Armenian et al. · Neuropharmacology 2018 (new tab)PMID 29037744
  5. Peterson and Couper · J Anal Toxicol 2015 (new tab)PMID 26378139
  6. Arbouche et al. · Drug Test Anal 2019 (new tab)PMID 30604522
  7. Gamage et al. · J Pharmacol Exp Ther 2019 (new tab)PMID 30552295
  8. Minakata et al. · J Anal Toxicol 2021 (new tab)PMID 32232365
  9. Park et al. · Pharmaceutics 2020 (new tab)PMID 33138123
  10. Manini et al. · Clin Toxicol 2022 (new tab)PMID 34499005
  11. Wilson et al. · Drug Alcohol Depend 2022 (new tab)PMID 35643039
  12. Longworth et al. · Forensic Toxicol 2016 (new tab)PMID 27547266

Identifiers

Names

IUPAC name
N-[(2S)-1-amino-3-methyl-1-oxobutan-2-yl]-1-pentylindazole-3-carboxamide
Other names
ABPINACA

Identifiers

Formula
C₁₈H₂₆N₄O₂
CAS
1445752-09-9
PubChem CID
71301472(new tab)
InChIKey
GIMHPAQOAAZSHS-HNNXBMFYSA-N
SMILES
CCCCCN1C2=CC=CC=C2C(=N1)C(=O)N[C@@H](C(C)C)C(=O)N

Machine-readable entry (JSON)

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