CP-47,497.CP 47,497

CP 47,497 is one of the two molecules through which the Spice phenomenon was elucidated: at the end of 2008, its C8 homologue and JWH-018 were identified for the first time as the main undeclared active ingredients of an herbal blend (Auwärter et al., 2009, as reported by Fattore and Fratta, 2011). The molecule hardly resembles tetrahydrocannabinol: it lacks the tricyclic benzopyran system of the classical cannabinoids, and what remains is a phenol carrying a hydroxylated cyclohexyl and a dimethylheptyl chain; the literature places it among the so-called non-classical cannabinoids, issued from Pfizer's cyclohexylphenol programme. Its affinity for CB1 is high: a Ki of 2.20 ± 0.47 nM on rat brain membranes in a table where Δ9-THC stands at 41 ± 2 nM (Huffman et al., 2008); in animals, it produces Δ9-THC-type effects with a potency of 3 to 28 times that of Δ9-THC (Weissman et al., 1982). No controlled human study was found: neither dose, tolerance nor dependence is characterised.

Source

An entirely synthetic molecule, absent from hemp as from any living organism. It was, with its C8 homologue, among the undeclared active ingredients of smoking blends sold as incense, which reportedly appeared on websites and in specialised shops around 2004, if not earlier, with a high popularity in 2008 (Fattore and Fratta, 2011). It figures in the lists of the EUDA and of UNODC recording the synthetic cannabinoids reported (Zangani et al., 2020). None of this concerns hemp or cannabidiol products.

No biological pathway: CP 47,497 is entirely synthetic, with no plant precursor or enzymatic step. It belongs solely to synthetic chemistry, described here by chemical class only.

European Union

The substance is not listed in the Annex to Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA (consolidated version of 12 January 2026), which lists the new psychoactive substances controlled at European Union level; control is a matter for national law. It appears in the lists of the EUDA and of UNODC recording the synthetic cannabinoids reported (Zangani et al., 2020), which is monitoring and not control. It does not appear in the schedules of the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances (green list of the INCB, 35th and 36th editions). France cites this molecule by name in annex IV of its list.

France

CP 47,497 is classed as a narcotic in France, and cited under its own name. The decree of 24 February 2009 (JORF no. 0049 of 27 February 2009) entered it in annex IV with its C6, C8 and C9 homologues, JWH-018 and HU-210, « ainsi que leurs isomères, stéréo-isomères, esters, éthers et sels » (together with their isomers, stereoisomers, esters, ethers and salts). The ANSM consolidated list (updated 16 February 2026) now cites it in annex IV, under the entry « CP 47,497 ou (5-(1,1-diméthylheptyl)-2-[(1R, 3S)-3-hydroxycyclohexyl]-phénol », as an example (« notamment ») of the generic family of « cyclohexylphenols or derivatives of 2-(3-hydroxycyclohexyl) phenol » (a substituent at position 5 of the phenol of the alkyl, haloalkyl, halobenzyl, alkenyl, cycloalkylmethyl, cycloalkylethyl, methyl-oxane, 1-(N-methylpiperidin-2-yl)methyl or 2-(4-morpholinyl)ethyl type), alongside CP 47,497-C6, -C8, -C9 and CP 55,940; the text of the decree of 31 March 2017 (JORF of 6 April 2017) contains this family and these examples. The clause covering tetrahydrocannabinols (annex III since the decision of 6 February 2026) therefore does not apply. Production, possession, supply, transport and use fall under narcotics criminal law.

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

Family

Synthetic CB receptor agonist › New psychoactive substance

Class

cyclohexylphenol

Verification

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

Wikipedia (English)

CP 47,497 (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.

1. 1Huffman JW, Thompson AL, Wiley JL, Martin BR. Synthesis and pharmacology of 1-deoxy analogs of CP-47,497 and CP-55,940. Bioorg Med Chem. 2008;16(1):322-335 (table 1: CP-47,497, Ki CB1 2.20 ± 0.47 nM, Δ9-THC 41 ± 2 nM) (new tab)PMID 17919913
2. 2Huffman JW, Hepburn SA, Reggio PH, Hurst DP, Wiley JL, Martin BR. Synthesis and pharmacology of 1-methoxy analogs of CP-47,497. Bioorg Med Chem. 2010;18(15):5475-5482 (table 1: CP-47,497, Ki CB1 9.54 ± 0.35 nM) (new tab)PMID 20621488
3. 3Weissman A, Milne GM, Melvin LS Jr. Cannabimimetic activity from CP-47,497, a derivative of 3-phenylcyclohexanol. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1982;223(2):516-523 (new tab)PMID 6290642
4. 4Fattore L, Fratta W. Beyond THC: the new generation of cannabinoid designer drugs. Front Behav Neurosci. 2011;5:60 (identification in late 2008, Pfizer's CP series, legislation in early 2009) (new tab)PMID 22007163
5. 5Auwärter V, Dresen S, Weinmann W, Müller M, Pütz M, Ferreirós N. 'Spice' and other herbal blends: harmless incense or cannabinoid designer drugs? J Mass Spectrom. 2009;44(5):832-837 (cited by Fattore and Fratta 2011 for the identification; no abstract available) (new tab)PMID 19189348
6. 6Samano KL, Poklis JL, Lichtman AH, Poklis A. Development of a high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the identification and quantification of CP-47,497, CP-47,497-C8 and JWH-250 in mouse brain. J Anal Toxicol. 2014;38(6):307-314 (new tab)PMID 24816398
7. 7Zangani C et al. The e-Psychonauts' 'Spiced' World: assessment of the synthetic cannabinoids' information available online. Curr Neuropharmacol 2020 (CP 47,497 in the UNODC, EUDA and NPSFinder lists) (new tab)PMID 32116194
8. 8ANSM, consolidated list of substances classified as narcotics, updated 16 February 2026 (annex IV, « cyclohexylphenols » family, CP 47,497 and the C6, C8, C9 homologues cited) (new tab)
9. 9Order of 24 February 2009 amending the order of 22 February 1990: CP 47,497 and the C6, C8, C9 homologues, JWH-018, HU-210 (Légifrance, JORF no. 0049 of 27 February 2009) (new tab)
10. 10Order of 31 March 2017 amending the order of 22 February 1990: « cyclohexylphenols » family of annex IV (Légifrance, JORF of 6 April 2017) (new tab)
11. 11PubChem CID 125835, CP 47,497: identifiers; ChEBI 191114 (mass 318.501) (new tab)

SMILES

CCCCCCC(C)(C)c1ccc([C@@H]2CCC[C@H](O)C2)c(O)c1

Machine-readable entry (JSON)

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