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Synthetic

(±)-ADBICA

A synthetic cannabinoid agonist at CB1 and CB2, a narcotic in France, with no human data.

Narcotic: generic clause
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.

C₂₀H₂₉N₃O₂

CAS 1445583-48-1

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

Updated on

In plain terms

ADBICA is a molecule made in a laboratory, with no link to the cannabis plant. It was identified in 2013 in illegal products in Japan, sprayed onto plant material. It is a narcotic in France and appears here only for documentary purposes, to help recognise and avoid it.

Receptors and activity

Target network

CB1Agonistpotent agonist: in the Banister 2015 study (membrane potential, AtT-20 cells), the eight compounds tested including ADBICA have an EC50 of 0.24 to 21 nM at CB1; the value specific to ADBICA was not verified in the full text
  • Activates

The lower the cited value, the closer the target sits to (±)-ADBICA: 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 (±)-ADBICA.

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. CB1Agonistno measured value cited

    potent agonist: in the Banister 2015 study (membrane potential, AtT-20 cells), the eight compounds tested including ADBICA have an EC50 of 0.24 to 21 nM at CB1; the value specific to ADBICA was not verified in the full text

  2. CB2Agonistno measured value cited

    potent agonist: EC50 of 0.88 to 15 nM at CB2 for all the compounds in the Banister 2015 study; value specific to ADBICA not verified

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

ADBICA, also called ADB-PICA, is a synthetic cannabinoid of the indole-3-carboxamide family, with an N-pentyl chain and an amide head derived from tert-leucine. It acts as an agonist of the CB1 and CB2 receptors: in the study by Banister and colleagues (2015), the compounds of the series including ADBICA have EC50 values of 0.24 to 21 nM at CB1 and 0.88 to 15 nM at CB2. Beyond this in vitro characterisation and the first identification of the compound in products seized in Japan in 2013, the literature specific to ADBICA remains thin: human data are lacking, no pharmacokinetic study has been published, no clinical series and no death is specifically attributed to it in the sources consulted, and its metabolic profile has not been described. Observations available for its close analogues, such as ADB-PINACA or 5F-ADBICA, belong to those molecules and cannot be transposed to it. No therapeutic benefit has ever been demonstrated.

Key sources.

History

Source
An entirely artificial molecule, absent from cannabis and from any known living organism. ADBICA belongs to the synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists, identified in 2013 in illegal products seized in Japan. The UNODC manual on synthetic cannabinoids notes, for this category of impregnated plant products, that the amount of synthetic additives can vary widely and that their distribution on the plant material can be inhomogeneous: the person buying does not know what they are consuming. ADBICA has never been the subject of medical development or therapeutic use.

Origin

Laboratory synthesis

None. The molecule has no biosynthetic pathway: it comes neither from cannabis nor from any other organism, and the human body does not make it. It is obtained entirely synthetically, described here only by its chemical class, the indole-3-carboxamides. No operating detail is given here.

Classification

Family, origin and source verification

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)

ADBICA (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 Chemical Neuroscience, 2015: pharmacology of indole and indazole synthetic cannabinoids (AB-FUBINACA, ADB-FUBINACA, AB-PINACA, ADB-PINACA, 5F-AB-PINACA, 5F-ADB-PINACA, ADBICA, 5F-ADBICA) (new tab)PMID 26134475
  2. Uchiyama et al., Forensic Toxicology, 2013: two new quinolinyl carboxylate-type cannabimimetics (QUPIC, QUCHIC), two new carboxamide derivatives (ADB-FUBINACA, ADBICA) and five synthetic cannabinoids identified in illegal products (new tab)DOI 10.1007/s11419-013-0182-9
  3. UNODC, Recommended methods for the identification and analysis of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists in seized materials (ST/NAR/48) (new tab)
  4. ANSM, consolidated list of substances classified as narcotics, updated 16 February 2026, annex IV: generic definition of indole-3-carboxamide derivatives (new tab)
  5. INCB, Green List of psychotropic substances under international control, 35th edition, 2024 (Schedule II: ADBICA absent) (new tab)
  6. PubChem, CID 72710773, ADBICA (new tab)

Identifiers

Names

IUPAC name
N-(1-amino-3,3-dimethyl-1-oxobutan-2-yl)-1-pentylindole-3-carboxamide
Other names
ADBICA · ADB-PICA

Identifiers

Formula
C₂₀H₂₉N₃O₂
CAS
1445583-48-1
PubChem CID
72710773(new tab)
InChIKey
IXUYMXAKKYWKRG-UHFFFAOYSA-N
SMILES
CCCCCN1C=C(C2=CC=CC=C21)C(=O)NC(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.