ADB-FUBICA.

ADB-FUBICA belongs to the indole-3-carboxamides with a tert-leucinamide head group and is the indole-core counterpart of ADB-FUBINACA. Its functional characterisation re-read in the text is that of Wouters and co-workers, in 2019: in a β-arrestin 2 recruitment assay at the human CB1 receptor, it shows a median effective concentration of 12.3 nM and a maximal effect of 313.6% of that of JWH-018 taken as the reference. This is the profile of a very high-efficacy agonist, whereas THC is only a partial agonist at CB1. For the class of synthetic agonists, the ACMD describes confusion, agitation, psychosis, seizures, cardiac rhythm disturbances and liver or kidney failure, sometimes fatal; these findings belong to the class, not to ADB-FUBICA itself, for which no clinical observation has been published: human data are entirely lacking. Its phase I metabolism, studied in human liver microsomes, is dominated by N-dealkylation and hydroxylation of the tert-leucinamide head group; the acid metabolite arising from hydrolysis of the amide does not activate CB1 measurably up to 1 µM and therefore does not contribute to the activity. The EC50 values specific to ADB-FUBICA in the study by Banister et al. (2015) could not be re-read in the full text. No therapeutic benefit is established.

Source

A wholly synthetic molecule, absent from cannabis and from every living organism. It comes from clandestine laboratory production: the seizure that led to its identification involved bulk powder manufactured in China. None of this has anything to do with hemp or with cannabidiol products.

No biosynthetic pathway exists: the molecule is produced by no living organism and derives from no plant precursor. It belongs exclusively to synthetic chemistry.

European Union

There is no single narcotics list at Union level: control rests on national legislation, on the United Nations conventions and, for a few substances only, on addition to the annex of Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA by delegated directive, following a formal risk assessment. ADB-FUBICA does not appear in that annex: Delegated Directive (EU) 2019/369, which added ADB-CHMINACA and CUMYL-4CN-BINACA to it, does not mention it, and no European risk assessment has been devoted to it. It is, however, monitored under the Union's early warning system. At international level, the molecule appears neither in the Single Convention of 1961 nor in the 1971 Convention. Its indazole-core neighbour, ADB-FUBINACA, is by contrast named individually, notably in annex III of the ANSM consolidated list: a single atom of difference in the core is enough to change the regulatory status, and confusing the two codes leads to false conclusions in both directions.

France

Classified as a narcotic in France, but not under its own name: ADB-FUBICA appears by name neither in annex IV of the decree of 22 February 1990 nor in the consolidated list published by the ANSM, where only its indazole-core neighbour, ADB-FUBINACA (annex III), appears by name. It falls under the generic clause introduced by the decree of 31 March 2017, the one covering indole 3-carboxamide derivatives: this definition covers molecules bearing on the indole ring nitrogen a halobenzyl-type substituent, and whose carboxamide bridge nitrogen bears a 1-amino-1-oxo-butan-2-yl-type group, whether or not that group is itself substituted at position 3 by one or two alkyl-type substituents. The 4-fluorobenzyl group and the 1-amino-3,3-dimethyl-1-oxobutan-2-yl head group of ADB-FUBICA match this description exactly: it is therefore caught by the generic clause, and not by listing under its own name. The clause relating to tetrahydrocannabinols and their esters, ethers and salts (in annex III of the consolidated list since the decision of 6 February 2026) does not apply here, since the molecule is neither an ester, nor an ether, nor a salt of THC. Production, possession, supply, importation and use fall under the narcotics regime. The substance has no food, cosmetic or therapeutic status and forms part of no lawful cannabidiol product.

Sources: EUR-Lex, UNODC, CND, ANSM, IUPHAR/BPS, ChEBI, EUDA. Our method.

Family

Synthetic CB receptor agonist › New psychoactive substance

Class

indole-3-carboxamide

Verification

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

Wikipedia (English)

No dedicated article.

1. 1Wouters E, Mogler L, Cannaert A, Auwärter V, Stove C. Functional evaluation of carboxy metabolites of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists featuring scaffolds based on L-valine or L-tert-leucine. Drug Test Anal. 2019;11(8):1183-1191. Functional measurement of ADB-FUBICA: EC50 of 12.3 nM (95% CI 9.68-16.1) and maximal effect of 313.6% of that of JWH-018 at human CB1; the metabolite ADB-FUBICA-COOH does not activate CB1 up to 1 µM. (new tab)PMID 31021521
2. 2Qian Z, Hua Z, Liu C, Jia W. Four types of cannabimimetic indazole and indole derivatives, ADB-BINACA, AB-FUBICA, ADB-FUBICA, and AB-BICA, identified as new psychoactive substances. Forensic Toxicol. 2016;34(1):133-143. First identification of ADB-FUBICA in illicit products: about 20 kg of powders seized in June 2015 in a clandestine laboratory in Hubei, China; states that the compound was synthesised by Banister in 2015. (new tab)PMID 26793280
3. 3Li J, Liu C, Li T, Hua Z. UPLC-HR-MS/MS-based determination study on the metabolism of four synthetic cannabinoids, ADB-FUBICA, AB-FUBICA, AB-BICA and ADB-BICA, by human liver microsomes. Biomed Chromatogr. 2018;32(1):e4113. Phase I metabolism and proposed urinary markers. (new tab)PMID 28992356
4. 4Watanabe S, Yamane H, Iwai T, Matsushita R, Seto Y. In vitro metabolic profiling of new synthetic cannabinoids, ADB-FUBIATA, AFUBIATA, CH-FUBIATA, and CH-PIATA. Arch Toxicol. 2023. Comparison of hydroxylation sites: that of ADB-FUBICA is the 3,3-dimethylbutanamide moiety, unlike ADB-FUBIATA. (new tab)PMID 37755504
5. 5Banister SD, Moir M, Stuart J, et al. Pharmacology of indole and indazole synthetic cannabinoid designer drugs AB-FUBINACA, ADB-FUBINACA, AB-PINACA, ADB-PINACA, 5F-AB-PINACA, 5F-ADB-PINACA, ADBICA and 5F-ADBICA. ACS Chem Neurosci. 2015;6(9):1546-1559. According to Qian 2016, ADB-FUBICA is one of the analogues synthesised; all the compounds in the study are high-potency agonists of CB1 (EC50 from 0.24 to 21 nM) and of CB2 (0.88 to 15 nM); full text not consulted. (new tab)PMID 26134475
6. 6PubChem, Compound Summary CID 129601417, ADB-FUBICA. Formula, molecular mass, systematic name and synonyms. (new tab)
7. 7ANSM, consolidated list of substances classified as narcotics, updated 16 February 2026. ADB-FUBICA is not named there (ADB-FUBINACA is, Annex III); generic definition of indole-3-carboxamide derivatives in Annex IV. (new tab)
8. 8Légifrance, order of 31 March 2017 amending the order of 22 February 1990 setting the list of substances classified as narcotics, introducing the generic definitions of synthetic cannabinoid families including indole-3-carboxamide derivatives. (new tab)
9. 9Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2019/369 amending the annex to Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA. List of substances added, including ADB-CHMINACA and CUMYL-4CN-BINACA; ADB-FUBICA does not appear there. (new tab)

SMILES

CC(C)(C)[C@@H](C(=O)N)NC(=O)C1=CN(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.