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Synthetic

ADB-BUTINACA

Very potent synthetic cannabinoid, classified as a narcotic, linked to severe poisonings.

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 2682867-55-4

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

Updated on

In plain terms

ADB-BUTINACA is a synthetic cannabinoid made in the laboratory, with no link to hemp or to CBD. It is found sprayed on smoking herbs, on infused paper or in vaping liquids. In rodents, it is more potent than THC. It is classed as a narcotic; WHO recorded at least six deaths and eight non-fatal poisonings confirmed in the United States.

Receptors and activity

Target network

CB1AgonistKi = 0.3 nM · human[3H]CP55,940 displacement, HEK293-EBNA cells
  • Activates

The lower the cited value, the closer the target sits to ADB-BUTINACA: 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-BUTINACA.

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 = 0.3 nM · human92 out of 100

    Sparkes et al. 2022, RSC Med Chem (new tab) · [3H]CP55,940 displacement, HEK293-EBNA cells

  2. CB2AgonistKi = 0.9 nM · human84 out of 100

    Sparkes et al. 2022, RSC Med Chem (new tab) · [3H]CP55,940 displacement, HEK293 cells

  3. 5-HT2AAgonistno 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

ADB-BUTINACA is an indazole-3-carboxamide with a tert-leucinamide head, a full agonist at CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors. Sparkes et al. (2022) measure an affinity of 0.299 nM at CB1 and 0.912 nM at CB2; the WHO report cites a CB1 potency of 0.67 nM (membrane potential), 6.36 nM (β-arrestin 2, Cannaert et al. 2020) and 11.6 nM (calcium flux), with an efficacy of 101 to 290% depending on the assay and the control. In mice, it causes a dose-dependent fall in body temperature (about 6.5 °C at 3 mg/kg intraperitoneally) and, in rats, fully substitutes for THC (ED50 = 0.038 mg/kg); in rodents, it is more potent than Δ9-THC at depressing locomotor activity and in a discrimination test (Shetty et al. 2026). Corli et al. (2026) showed that synthetic agonists with a valinamide or tert-leucinamide head, including ADB-BUTINACA, also activate the 5-HT2A receptor at high concentrations. In 2022, WHO noted in the United States at least six deaths and eight non-fatal poisonings requiring care, with analytical confirmation, most patients being minimally responsive or unconscious and naloxone having no notable effect; the cause could not be assigned with certainty to ADB-BUTINACA, other substances often being present. No preclinical toxicology study or systematic human toxicology study was identified, and no therapeutic use is known.

Key sources.

History

Source
A wholly synthetic molecule, absent from cannabis and from any living organism. According to the WHO report (2022), the first documented detection by a public authority took place in Sweden in July 2019; it has since been detected in 11 countries, in seized products or biological samples. It is mostly inhaled, after being sprayed on plant material or by vaping; infused papers have been seized in Scottish prisons (Kronstrand et al. 2022).

Origin

Laboratory synthesis

No biosynthetic pathway: ADB-BUTINACA does not derive from hemp. It is a synthetic molecule of the indazole-3-carboxamide class, described here by its chemical class only, with no relation to the terpenophenols of the plant.

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-BUTINACA (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, 45th meeting: critical review report on ADB-BUTINACA (2022) (new tab)
  2. Sparkes et al. · RSC Med Chem 2022 (new tab)PMID 35308023
  3. Cannaert et al. · ACS Chem Neurosci 2020 (new tab)PMID 33253529
  4. Corli et al. · Br J Pharmacol 2026 (new tab)PMID 42086516
  5. Shetty et al. · J Cannabis Res 2026 (new tab)PMID 41526973
  6. Sia et al. · Clin Chem 2021 (new tab)PMID 34387654
  7. Kronstrand et al. · Drug Test Anal 2022 (new tab)PMID 34811926
  8. Kavanagh et al. · J Anal Toxicol 2022 (new tab)PMID 34341821
  9. King et al. · Clin Toxicol 2022 (new tab)PMID 35943421
  10. Zschiesche et al. · Front Toxicol 2026 (new tab)PMID 42212046
  11. Zschiesche et al. · Forensic Toxicol 2026 (new tab)PMID 41307856
  12. Fan et al. · Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 2024 (new tab)PMID 39603218
  13. Gish et al. · Environ Sci Pollut Res 2025 (new tab)PMID 41372739

Identifiers

Names

IUPAC name
N-[(2S)-1-amino-3,3-dimethyl-1-oxobutan-2-yl]-1-butylindazole-3-carboxamide
Other names
ADB-BINACA

Identifiers

Formula
C₁₈H₂₆N₄O₂
CAS
2682867-55-4
PubChem CID
155907792(new tab)
InChIKey
GPWADXHYJAZPAX-OAHLLOKOSA-N
SMILES
CCCCN1C2=CC=CC=C2C(=N1)C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N)C(C)(C)C

Machine-readable entry (JSON)

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