Synthetic cannabinoid (SCRA)
UnscheduledBzODZ-EPyr
3-benzyl-5-[1-(2-pyrrolidin-1-ylethyl)indol-3-yl]-1,2,4-oxadiazole
Aliases.3-benzyl-5-[1-(2-pyrrolidin-1-ylethyl)-1H-indol-3-yl]-1,2,4-oxadiazole · 3-(3-benzyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-yl)-1-[2-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)ethyl]-1H-indole
Synthetic cannabinoid with an oxadiazole bridge, a CB1 agonist, with no published human data.
Updated on
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.
Identifiers
- Formula
- C₂₃H₂₄N₄O
- Molar mass
- 372.20 g·mol⁻¹
- CAS
- -
- PubChem CID
- 9842447
- First described
- La molécule provient d'un programme de chimie médicinale australien. Une demande de brevet déposée le 2 novembre 2001 par la société Amrad Operations, sur une priorité du 2 novembre 2000, au nom de Gerard Moloney et Alan Robertson, revendique les dérivés 3-oxadiazol-5-yl-1-aminoalkyl-1H-indole comme ligands des récepteurs cannabinoïdes utiles contre la douleur ; le brevet américain US 6930118, délivré le 16 août 2005, désigne explicitement le 3-(3-benzyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-yl)-1-[2-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)éthyl]-1H-indole comme composé particulièrement préféré. Les travaux correspondants ont été publiés en 2008 par Moloney, Angus, Robertson et collaborateurs dans European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, avec pour objectif déclaré des agonistes sélectifs de CB1 destinés au contrôle de la douleur et à l'ischémie cérébrale. La molécule est ensuite sortie du laboratoire : Shevyrin, Melkozerov, Eltsov, Shafran et Morzherin en ont signalé la première identification sur le marché illicite des nouveaux produits de synthèse dans Forensic Science International en 2016, en lui donnant l'abréviation BzODZ-EPyr et en soulignant qu'elle n'était jusque là connue que de la littérature pharmaceutique.
- Origin
- An entirely synthetic molecule. It occurs neither in cannabis nor in any other plant or living organism, and bears no relation to hemp or to cannabidiol products. Its only documented appearance outside the laboratory is the Russian market for new synthetic products, where it was identified in a sample analysed and published in late 2015. Like the other agonists of this class, it is encountered as a powder deposited on a plant carrier sold as a smoking mixture, sometimes presented under an entirely different name: the powder is unevenly distributed and the product's actual composition is not disclosed to the buyer.
- InChIKey
- RUVOQWMACBDQDK-UHFFFAOYSA-N
In plain terms
BzODZ-EPyr is a laboratory molecule with no connection to hemp: it exists neither in cannabis nor in cannabidiol products. Originally designed as a candidate painkiller, it acts on the same brain receptor as THC, and it was found once on the synthetic drug market in Russia, where powders of this kind are sprayed onto herbs for smoking. Almost nothing is known about what it does in human beings: no clinical study has been published.
Receptors and activity
- CB1pKB 7,2 sur CB1, valeur rapportée pour cette molécule dans la fiche NCATS Inxight et rattachée aux essais fonctionnels de Moloney et coll. (2008) ; aucune affinité Ki ni EC50 en système recombinant n'a été publiéeAgonist
- Agonist
- Partial agonist
- Antagonist
- Modulator
- Inverse agonist
Hover over a row for the precise value (Ki, EC50…)
Subjective signature
Hover over an axis to read its definition.
- Calm8
- Clarity4
- Sleep8
- Appetite8
- High6
Editorial estimate, not clinical.
Pharmacology
BzODZ-EPyr belongs to the line of cannabimimetic aminoalkylindoles, with one structural peculiarity: the ketone bridge that links the indole core to the aromatic group in JWH-type compounds is here replaced by a 1,2,4-oxadiazole ring bearing a benzyl group, while the indole nitrogen carries a 2-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)ethyl chain. This is precisely what the series it comes from demonstrates: swapping the spacer in this way does not abolish activity at the CB1 receptor. The compound was retained as a preferred molecule of the founding patent and ranks among the most active in the series in functional assays on isolated tissue, with a pKB of 7.2 at CB1 in the summary datasheets that reproduce this work. Beyond that point the file is thin: no measurement of affinity or efficacy in a recombinant system, hence no quantification of the agonism, nothing on CB2 or on the neighbouring targets TRPV1, GPR55, PPARγ and 5-HT1A, no pharmacokinetic, metabolic or toxicological study specific to this compound, and human data are entirely lacking. That void is precisely what matters for harm reduction. The synthetic agonists of this class that have been characterised behave as full CB1 agonists, whereas THC is only a partial agonist, and this difference in efficacy explains the particular severity of the poisonings described for the group. Nothing allows one to state that BzODZ-EPyr escapes this profile, and nothing allows the observations made on its analogues, which often differ by a single atom, to be transposed to it unchanged.
Key sources.
- Moloney GP, Angus JA, Robertson AD et coll., Synthesis and cannabinoid activity of 1-substituted-indole-3-oxadiazole derivatives: novel agonists for the CB1 receptor. Eur J Med Chem. 2008;43(3):513-539PMID 17582659
- Shevyrin V, Melkozerov V, Eltsov O, Shafran Y, Morzherin Y, Synthetic cannabinoid 3-benzyl-5-[1-(2-pyrrolidin-1-ylethyl)-1H-indol-3-yl]-1,2,4-oxadiazole. The first detection in illicit market of new psychoactive substances. Forensic Sci Int. 2016;259:95-100PMID 26771874
- Moloney PG, Robertson AD, brevet US 6930118 B2, 3-Oxadiazol-5-yl-1-aminoalkyl-1H-indole derivatives, Amrad Operations Pty Ltd, priorité du 2 novembre 2000, délivré le 16 août 2005
- ANSM, Liste consolidée des substances classées comme stupéfiants, mise à jour du 16 février 2026 : aucune entrée oxadiazole, aucune entrée BzODZ-EPyr
- Arrêté du 22 février 1990 fixant la liste des substances classées comme stupéfiants, annexe IV, définitions génériques des cannabinoïdes de synthèse (Légifrance)
- UNODC, Recommended methods for the identification and analysis of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists in seized materials. Forensic Sci Int Synergy. 2021
- NCATS Inxight Drugs, fiche BZODZ-EPYR (UNII WSQ49D7D2Q), agoniste CB1 avec pKB de 7,2
Origin (pharmaceutical research → illicit market)
No biosynthetic pathway exists: the molecule is produced by no living organism and comes from organic synthesis. By chemical class it arises from the construction of a 1,2,4-oxadiazole ring on an indole derivative, followed by alkylation of the indole nitrogen with an aminoethyl chain.
Legal framework
France
Not classified as a narcotic in France. The molecule appears neither under its abbreviation nor under its systematic name in the consolidated list of substances classified as narcotics maintained by the ANSM, in which the oxadiazole motif is entirely absent. Nor does it fall within the generic definitions of annex IV of the decree of 22 February 1990, and this for two independent reasons. First, these generic families are defined by their bridge: indol-3-yl methanone, indazol-3-yl methanone, indole or indazole 3-carboxylate and 3-carboxamide, pyrrolo[3,2-c]pyridine carboxamide, 3-(4-thiazolyl)indole derivatives; none covers a 1,2,4-oxadiazole bridge. Second, the exhaustive list of substituents permitted on the indole nitrogen, of the alkyl, haloalkyl, halobenzyl, alkenyl, cycloalkylmethyl, cycloalkylethyl, methyl-oxane, 1-(N-methylpiperidin-2-yl)methyl or 2-(4-morpholinyl)ethyl type, does not include the 2-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)ethyl chain carried by this molecule. The generic clause covering tetrahydrocannabinols, their esters, ethers and salts does not apply either, for want of any structural kinship with THC. This absence of classification is neither an authorisation nor a sign of harmlessness: the substance has no status as a food, cosmetic or consumer ingredient, and the ANSM may add it to the narcotics list at any time, as it has done for other families of synthetic cannabinoids.
European Union
No Union instrument covers it. It is not listed in the annex to Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA, has been the subject of no risk-assessment report by the European drugs monitoring centre, and no notification to the Union's Early Warning System could be found: the published report concerns Russia, outside the Union. At international level, it appears neither in the Single Convention of 1961 nor in the 1971 Convention, and the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence has not reviewed it. Several countries nevertheless apply generic laws by chemical family, or blanket laws on new psychoactive substances, which may cover it without naming it: its status must therefore be checked country by country, and it changes quickly for this type of compound.
Sources: EUR-Lex, UNODC, CND, ANSM, IUPHAR/BPS, ChEBI, EUDA. Our method.
Structural classification
- Class
- Synthetic cannabinoid (SCRA)
- Origin
- An entirely synthetic molecule. It occurs neither in cannabis nor in any other plant or living organism, and bears no relation to hemp or to cannabidiol products. Its only documented appearance outside the laboratory is the Russian market for new synthetic products, where it was identified in a sample analysed and published in late 2015. Like the other agonists of this class, it is encountered as a powder deposited on a plant carrier sold as a smoking mixture, sometimes presented under an entirely different name: the powder is unevenly distributed and the product's actual composition is not disclosed to the buyer.
- Status
- Unscheduled
Agoniste synthétique des récepteurs cannabinoïdes issu de la lignée des aminoalkylindoles. Le noyau indole porte en position 3 un cycle 1,2,4-oxadiazole substitué par un groupe benzyle, et sur son azote une chaîne 2-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)éthyle. La particularité de la série est le remplacement du pont cétone des 3-acylindoles de type JWH par un hétérocycle oxadiazole servant d'espaceur rigide entre l'indole et le groupe aromatique terminal.
Toxicology and risks
Aucune donnée de toxicologie propre au BzODZ-EPyr n'a été publiée : ni étude animale de sécurité, ni série de cas cliniques, ni décès avec exposition confirmée à cette seule molécule. Les tableaux graves largement documentés pour les agonistes de synthèse des récepteurs cannabinoïdes, convulsions, agitation et état confusionnel, tachyarythmie, vomissements incoercibles, atteinte rénale aiguë et décès, concernent d'autres composés de la classe, notamment les carboxamides d'indazole récents : ces observations appartiennent à ces molécules et ne peuvent pas être attribuées au BzODZ-EPyr sur la seule base d'une parenté chimique. Le danger concret reste celui de la classe entière. La substance parvient à la personne qui la consomme sans étiquetage fiable, parfois vendue sous un nom trompeur, y compris comme produit au cannabidiol ; la dose reçue est inconnue parce que la poudre est déposée de façon inégale sur le support végétal ; et les mélanges saisis contiennent fréquemment plusieurs agonistes différents à la fois. L'association avec l'alcool ou avec des médicaments sédatifs aggrave le risque.
Detection and analysis
La caractérisation analytique de référence est celle de la première identification sur le marché illicite : chromatographie en phase gazeuse couplée à la spectrométrie de masse, y compris en haute résolution, chromatographie liquide à très haute performance couplée à la spectrométrie de masse en tandem haute résolution, spectroscopie infrarouge à transformée de Fourier et résonance magnétique nucléaire du proton et du carbone 13. Comme les autres agonistes de synthèse, la molécule n'est pas vue par les tests immunologiques destinés au cannabis. Les criblages ciblés bâtis sur les fragments cétone et carboxamide ne la détectent pas nécessairement, et son identification suppose une bibliothèque spectrale contenant ce composé précis. Aucune méthode validée en matrice biologique et aucun métabolite marqueur n'ont été publiés pour cette molécule.
References
- 1.Moloney GP, Angus JA, Robertson AD et coll., Synthesis and cannabinoid activity of 1-substituted-indole-3-oxadiazole derivatives: novel agonists for the CB1 receptor. Eur J Med Chem. 2008;43(3):513-539PMID 17582659
- 2.Shevyrin V, Melkozerov V, Eltsov O, Shafran Y, Morzherin Y, Synthetic cannabinoid 3-benzyl-5-[1-(2-pyrrolidin-1-ylethyl)-1H-indol-3-yl]-1,2,4-oxadiazole. The first detection in illicit market of new psychoactive substances. Forensic Sci Int. 2016;259:95-100PMID 26771874
- 3.Moloney PG, Robertson AD, brevet US 6930118 B2, 3-Oxadiazol-5-yl-1-aminoalkyl-1H-indole derivatives, Amrad Operations Pty Ltd, priorité du 2 novembre 2000, délivré le 16 août 2005
- 4.ANSM, Liste consolidée des substances classées comme stupéfiants, mise à jour du 16 février 2026 : aucune entrée oxadiazole, aucune entrée BzODZ-EPyr
- 5.Arrêté du 22 février 1990 fixant la liste des substances classées comme stupéfiants, annexe IV, définitions génériques des cannabinoïdes de synthèse (Légifrance)
- 6.UNODC, Recommended methods for the identification and analysis of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists in seized materials. Forensic Sci Int Synergy. 2021
- 7.NCATS Inxight Drugs, fiche BZODZ-EPYR (UNII WSQ49D7D2Q), agoniste CB1 avec pKB de 7,2
Structured data
- InChIKey
- RUVOQWMACBDQDK-UHFFFAOYSA-N
- SMILES
- c1ccc(Cc2noc(-c3cn(CCN4CCCC4)c4ccccc34)n2)cc1
- Formula
- C23H24N4O
- Molar mass
- 372.20 g·mol⁻¹
- PubChem CID
- 9842447
LLM ingestion format: a structured superset of the entry (identifiers, binding, versioned legal status). Full corpus.