AM-4054
An adamantyl laboratory cannabinoid, a full CB1 agonist, far more potent than THC.
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.
C₂₆H₃₆O₃
CID 71661716
- Family
- Synthetic CB receptor agonistResearch ligand or medicine
- Molar mass
- 396.60 g/mol
Updated on
In plain terms
AM-4054 is a laboratory molecule, developed in 2013 by an American university team to study the receptor on which cannabis acts. It does not come from hemp and is used in no product sold to the public. It switches this receptor on far more strongly than THC does, and no human data exist about it.
Receptors and activity
Target network
- Activates
The lower the cited value, the closer the target sits to AM-4054: 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 AM-4054.
CB1CB1 found in 7 regions of the body
- Basal gangliadenseMost dense in basal ganglia outflow nuclei1
- CerebellumdenseVery dense in the cerebellum1
- HippocampusdenseVery high concentrations in the hippocampus2
- AmygdaladenseHigh concentrations in the amygdala2
- CortexpresentPresent throughout the neocortex2
- Adipose tissuepresentExpressed in adipose tissue3
- GutpresentColonic epithelium, smooth muscle and plexus4
Map sources
- Herkenham M et al. Cannabinoid receptor localization in brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 1990 (new tab)
- 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)
- Engeli S et al. Activation of the peripheral endocannabinoid system in human obesity. Diabetes, 2005 (new tab)
- Wright K et al. Differential expression of cannabinoid receptors in the human colon: cannabinoids promote epithelial wound healing. Gastroenterology, 2005 (new tab)
Cited values
- CB1AgonistKi = 4.9 nM · rat72 out of 100
Thakur et al. 2013, J Med Chem, table 1 (new tab) · binding at the rat CB1 receptor (rCB1)
- CB2AgonistKi = 11.3 nM · human66 out of 100
Thakur et al. 2013, J Med Chem, table 1 (new tab) · binding at the human CB2 receptor (hCB2)
Pharmacology
AM-4054 is a tricyclic classical cannabinoid: a hexahydrocannabinol whose usual pentyl chain is replaced by an adamantyl group, with a hydroxymethyl function at position 9. Thakur and colleagues measured in 2013 a nanomolar affinity for the CB1 receptor (Ki of 4.9 nM at rat CB1) and a similar affinity for CB2 (11.3 nM at human CB2), a modest selectivity of about 2.5-fold. The decisive difference from THC concerns efficacy: THC is only a partial agonist of CB1, whereas AM-4054 behaves as a full agonist, both in cAMP inhibition (EC50 of 1.29 nM) and in β-arrestin recruitment. In rats it produces the whole cannabinoid tetrad, antinociception, catalepsy, hypothermia and suppression of locomotor activity, effects reversed by the CB1 antagonist AM251, which confirms an action mediated by this receptor. In a discrimination test, it is more potent than THC. No activity is documented at TRPV1, GPR55, PPARγ or 5-HT1A. Human data are entirely lacking: no pharmacokinetics, metabolism or clinical observation has been published.
Key sources.
- Thakur et al., Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2013: novel adamantyl cannabinoids as CB1 receptor probes (AM4054 = compound 11: Ki, cAMP, beta-arrestin) (new tab)PMID 23621789
- McLaughlin et al., Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, 2013: behavioural effects of the CB1 agonist AM 4054 in the rat (tetrad, effects reversed by AM251) (new tab)PMID 23603029
- Järbe et al., Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, 2016: AM4054 used as a discriminative stimulus in the rat, generalisation to the adamantyl analogues and to Δ9-THC (new tab)PMID 27264437
- ANSM, consolidated list of substances classified as narcotics, updated 16 February 2026, annex IV: « any substance derived from the benzo[c]chromene nucleus » clause (decisions of 22 May and 3 June 2024) (new tab)
- ANSM, ANSM adds new cannabinoids to the narcotics list, in force on 3 June 2024 (new tab)
- PubChem, compound CID 71661716 (AM-4054) (new tab)
History
- Source
- None. AM-4054 is an entirely synthetic molecule, absent from hemp as from any other plant. It was designed as a pharmacological tool at the Center for Drug Discovery of Northeastern University, in Boston, in the group of Alexandros Makriyannis, from which the AM prefix of its designation comes. It was never intended for human use and is used in no consumer product.
Origin
Laboratory synthesis
No known biological pathway: this molecule is formed in no living organism. It is built on the classic tricyclic cannabinoid skeleton, obtained chemically, in which the pentyl chain at position 3 is replaced by an adamantyl group and the methyl at position 9 by a hydroxymethyl. It arises from optimisation work carried out around the compound AM411.
Legal framework
- European Union
No European Union-wide control targets AM-4054: it is not among the substances named in the annex of Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA as supplemented by Directives (EU) 2017/2103, 2019/369, 2020/1687, 2021/802, 2022/1326 and 2025/2062. The sources consulted report no seizure or notification of this molecule: it appears to have remained a laboratory reagent. It is not listed in Schedule II of the 1971 Convention (Green List of the International Narcotics Control Board, 35th edition, 2024). National regimes differ, several Member States applying, like France, generic definitions that may encompass it.
- France
Controlled in France by a generic clause, and not under its own name. AM-4054 is named nowhere in the consolidated list of ANSM (updated 16 February 2026). That list does, however, enter in annex IV a generic definition covering “any substance derived from the benzo[c]chromene nucleus”, hydrogenated or not on ring A, substituted notably “at position 1 by a hydroxyl function, esterified or not”, “at position 3 by an adamantyl substituent”, “at position 6 by one or two alkyl groups” and “at position 9 by a ketone, alkyl, hydroxyalkyl or alkoxy function”; this clause stems from the ANSM decisions of 22 May and 3 June 2024, the classification applying from 3 June 2024, and excludes notably CBN, CBNA, THCV and THCVA below 0.3 % and THCA below the legal content. AM-4054, a hexahydrobenzo[c]chromene bearing a hydroxyl at position 1, a 1-adamantyl at position 3, two methyls at position 6 and a hydroxymethyl at position 9, literally meets these criteria. It is not the classic clause on tetrahydrocannabinols, their esters, ethers and salts that applies here, since the molecule is a hexahydrocannabinol and not a tetrahydrocannabinol.
Sources: EUR-Lex, UNODC, CND, ANSM, IUPHAR/BPS, ChEBI, EUDA. Our method.
Classification
Family, origin and source verification
- Family
Synthetic CB receptor agonist › Research ligand or medicine
- Class
classical
- Verification
Classification, sources and binding values checked on 20 October 2026; text read against its sources and Wikipedia.
- Wikipedia (English)
No dedicated article.
References
- Thakur et al., Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2013: novel adamantyl cannabinoids as CB1 receptor probes (AM4054 = compound 11: Ki, cAMP, beta-arrestin) (new tab)PMID 23621789
- McLaughlin et al., Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, 2013: behavioural effects of the CB1 agonist AM 4054 in the rat (tetrad, effects reversed by AM251) (new tab)PMID 23603029
- Järbe et al., Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, 2016: AM4054 used as a discriminative stimulus in the rat, generalisation to the adamantyl analogues and to Δ9-THC (new tab)PMID 27264437
- ANSM, consolidated list of substances classified as narcotics, updated 16 February 2026, annex IV: « any substance derived from the benzo[c]chromene nucleus » clause (decisions of 22 May and 3 June 2024) (new tab)
- ANSM, ANSM adds new cannabinoids to the narcotics list, in force on 3 June 2024 (new tab)
- PubChem, compound CID 71661716 (AM-4054) (new tab)
Identifiers
Names
- IUPAC name
- (6aR,9R,10aR)-3-(1-adamantyl)-9-(hydroxymethyl)-6,6-dimethyl-6a,7,8,9,10,10a-hexahydrobenzo[c]chromen-1-ol
- Other names
- AM4054 · AM 4054
Identifiers
- Formula
- C₂₆H₃₆O₃
- PubChem CID
- 71661716(new tab)
- InChIKey
- GQYXNRWEEUCMOZ-MMSALSPUSA-N
- SMILES
- CC1([C@@H]
2CC[C@H] (C[C@H] 2C3= C(C= C(C= C3O1) C45CC6CC(C4) CC(C6) C5) O) CO) C
LLM ingestion format: a structured superset of the entry (identifiers, binding, versioned legal status). Full corpus.