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Synthetic

ADB-4en-PINACA

An indazole synthetic cannabinoid, a CB1 agonist, classified as a narcotic in France.

FranceNarcotic: generic clauseInternationalNarcotic: 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.

C₁₉H₂₆N₄O₂

CID 162705324

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

Updated on

In plain terms

ADB-4en-PINACA is a synthetic cannabinoid manufactured in clandestine laboratories, with no relation to hemp or to cannabidiol products. It has been found impregnated into paper seized in Scottish prisons, and it has even been found in a supplement sold as something else entirely in the United States. It acts on the same receptors as THC and, in mice, at lower doses; the real composition of the products in which it is found remains unpredictable.

Receptors and activity

Target network

CB1AgonistEC50 = 11.6 nMCB1 activation in vitro (assay not specified in the abstract); ADB-BUTINACA 11.5 nM and MDMB-4en-PINACA 4.3 nM in the same work
  • Activates

The lower the cited value, the closer the target sits to ADB-4en-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 ADB-4en-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. CB1AgonistEC50 = 11.6 nM66 out of 100

    Kronstrand et al. 2022, Drug Test Anal (new tab) · CB1 activation in vitro (assay not specified in the abstract); ADB-BUTINACA 11.5 nM and MDMB-4en-PINACA 4.3 nM in the same work

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

ADB-4en-PINACA is an indazole carboxamide: a pent-4-en-1-yl tail on the nitrogen in position 1, a primary tert-leucine amide head. In vitro, it activates the CB1 receptor, of which THC is only a partial agonist. The published potency is 11.6 nM (Kronstrand et al., 2022), close to that of ADB-BUTINACA and lower than that of MDMB-4en-PINACA measured in the same work. In mice, the molecule reproduces the full set of reference cannabinoid effects, hypoactivity, hypothermia, analgesia and catalepsy, at lower exposures than those of THC, with a biphasic effect of place preference then place aversion and signs of precipitated withdrawal that indicate physical dependence; the ranking of abuse potential places it above THC, behind 5F-ADB and MDMB-4en-PINACA. The binding and functional work carried out on the indazole series provides no value specific to this compound, and activity at CB2, TRPV1, GPR55, PPARγ or 5-HT1A has never been studied. Controlled human data are entirely lacking.

Key sources.

History

Source
An entirely synthetic molecule, absent from cannabis as from any living organism: it bears no relation to hemp or to cannabidiol products. It has been identified in impregnated papers seized in Scottish prisons since December 2020, the best-documented form in Europe; in the United States, the substance has also been found in a supplement sold in shops and online under a tianeptine label. The only known lawful production consists of analytical reference standards intended for toxicology laboratories.

Origin

Laboratory synthesis

No known biosynthetic pathway: the molecule is produced by no living organism. It comes from clandestine organic synthesis, described here by 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)

ADB-4en-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. Kronstrand R. et al., Drug Testing and Analysis, 2022: metabolism of ADB-BUTINACA and ADB-4en-PINACA, detection in forensic toxicology and in impregnated papers seized in prison (new tab)PMID 34811926
  2. Pike E. et al., Drug Testing and Analysis, 2021, part I: synthesis, analytical characterisation and binding affinity of thirty agonists related to ADB-4en-PINACA (new tab)PMID 33787091
  3. Grafinger K.E. et al., Drug Testing and Analysis, 2021, part II: CB1 activation by β-arrestin 2 recruitment (new tab)PMID 33769699
  4. Grafinger K.E. et al., Drug Testing and Analysis, 2021, part III: the G protein pathway and a critical comparison of the different assays (new tab)PMID 33908179
  5. Qiao Y. et al., International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2025: abuse potential of 5F-ADB, MDMB-4en-PINACA and ADB-4en-PINACA in the mouse (new tab)PMID 40650186
  6. Zhou F. et al., Addiction Biology, 2024: comparative cannabinoid effects and pharmacokinetics of ADB-4en-PINACA and three analogues in the mouse (new tab)PMID 38380735
  7. Wang Y. et al., Forensic Toxicology, 2023: identification and quantification of ADB-4en-PINACA in an authentic human hair by GC-MS/MS (new tab)PMID 36652067
  8. Counts C.J. et al., Journal of Medical Toxicology, 2025: case series of poisonings by a tianeptine product adulterated with synthetic cannabinoids, New Jersey (new tab)PMID 40102319
  9. Hancox J.C. et al., Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology Plus, 2023: prediction of hERG channel block by seven recent synthetic cannabinoid agonists (new tab)PMID 38143960
  10. Dou Q. et al., Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 2023: assay of MDMB-4en-PINACA, ADB-BUTINACA and ADB-4en-PINACA by thermally assisted carbon fibre ionisation (new tab)PMID 37641897
  11. Monti M.C. et al., Archives of Toxicology, 2025: tail-less precursors in the production of synthetic cannabinoids, clandestine laboratory and seized samples (new tab)PMID 40407906
  12. Shetty R.A. et al., Journal of Cannabis Research, 2026: behavioural pharmacology of indazole, indole and benzimidazole cannabinoid agonists in the rodent (new tab)PMID 41526973
  13. Order of 31 March 2017 amending the order of 22 February 1990 setting the list of substances classified as narcotics, Annex IV, generic families of indole and indazole carboxamides (Légifrance) (new tab)
  14. Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2021/802 of 12 March 2021 amending the annex to Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA, listing MDMB-4en-PINACA and 4F-MDMB-BICA (new tab)
  15. PubChem, Compound Summary CID 162705324, ADB-4en-PINACA (new tab)
  16. Federal Register of 16 December 2025: proposed final scheduling of ADB-4en-PINACA in Schedule I of the United States, after the temporary scheduling of 12 December 2023 (new tab)
  17. Federal Register, 1 May 2026: final rule of the Drug Enforcement Administration placing 4F-MDMB-BUTICA, ADB-4en-PINACA, 5F-EDMB-PICA and MMB-FUBICA in Schedule I (Schedules of Controlled Substances: Placement … in Schedule I) (new tab)

Identifiers

Names

IUPAC name
N-(1-amino-3,3-dimethyl-1-oxobutan-2-yl)-1-pent-4-enylindazole-3-carboxamide
Other names
N-(1-Amino-3,3-dimethyl-1-oxobutan-2-yl)-1-(pent-4-en-1-yl)-1H-indazole-3-carboxamide

Identifiers

Formula
C₁₉H₂₆N₄O₂
PubChem CID
162705324(new tab)
InChIKey
NXDLAZXBALPFSN-UHFFFAOYSA-N
SMILES
C=CCCCn1nc(C(=O)NC(C(N)=O)C(C)(C)C)c2ccccc21

Machine-readable entry (JSON)

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