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Derived from the plant

Δ8-THCMΔ8-THC methyl ether

The methyl ether of Δ8-THC: with the phenol masked, CB1 affinity collapses.

FranceNarcotic: generic clauseInternationalUnscheduled
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.

C₂₂H₃₂O₂

CAS 1451-20-3

Family
Semi-synthetic cannabinoidProvisional classification
Molar mass
328.49 g/mol

Updated on

In plain terms

Δ8-THCM is a laboratory-modified version of Δ8-THC: a methyl group caps the part of the molecule that normally docks onto cannabinoid receptors. In mice, this change made it lose most of THC's effects. It has not been described in hemp, and in 2026 it was found in oils sold as THC analogues.

Receptors and activity

Target network

CB1AgonistIC50 = 3200 nM on rat brain membranes ([3H]CP-55,940 displacement), against 179 nM for Δ8-THC and 218 nM for Δ9-THC in the same series; in vivo in the mouse, ED50 > 100 mg/kg (locomotor activity, hypothermia, ring immobility) and MPE50 = 33 mg/kg in the tail-flick test (Compton et al. 1991). Very weak agonist activity; no antagonism observed.
  • Activates

The lower the cited value, the closer the target sits to Δ8-THCM: 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 Δ8-THCM.

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

    IC50 = 3200 nM on rat brain membranes ([3H]CP-55,940 displacement), against 179 nM for Δ8-THC and 218 nM for Δ9-THC in the same series; in vivo in the mouse, ED50 > 100 mg/kg (locomotor activity, hypothermia, ring immobility) and MPE50 = 33 mg/kg in the tail-flick test (Compton et al. 1991). Very weak agonist activity; no antagonism observed.

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

Δ8-THCM is the methyl ether of Δ8-THC: the phenol at position 1 of the dibenzopyran skeleton is masked by a methoxy group. Compton et al. (1991) measured in rat brain membranes an IC50 of 3200 nM at the [3H]CP-55,940-labelled site, about eighteen times higher than that of Δ8-THC tested in parallel (179 nM). In mice, no effect appeared up to 100 mg/kg on locomotor activity, temperature and ring immobility, and only modest antinociception was observed in the tail-flick test (dose producing 50 % of the maximum possible effect: 33 mg/kg). The authors concluded that the phenolic hydroxyl is important for receptor recognition, while noting that these methyl ethers, thought to be inactive, produce limited activity; none of the analogues tested antagonised Δ9-THC. In 2026, Tanaka et al. identified it by NMR in commercial oils and stressed that no toxicity data exist. No human data are published.

Key sources.

History

Source
No presence in hemp is reported and no biosynthetic route is known. Δ8-THCM is the methyl ether of Δ8-THC, prepared in the laboratory for structure-activity studies (Compton et al. 1991). In 2026, Tanaka et al. isolated it and identified it by NMR in commercial oils sold as containing THC analogues, whose actual components are often unknown. The origin of the starting material of these products (derivation from a hemp-extracted cannabinoid or total synthesis) is not documented.

Route of preparation

Chemical process

No known biosynthetic route: it is a synthetic derivative of Δ8-THC whose phenol at position 1 is methylated.

Classification

Family, origin and source verification

Family

Semi-synthetic cannabinoid › Provisional classification

Chemistry

C5 side chain · neutral form

Verification

Every fact on this entry was checked against its primary sources on 20 October 2026.

Wikipedia (English)

Delta-8-THCM (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. Compton DR, Prescott WR Jr, Martin BR, Siegel C, Gordon PM, Razdan RK. Synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of ether and related analogues of delta 8-, delta 9-, and delta 9,11-tetrahydrocannabinol. J Med Chem 1991;34:3310-3316 (new tab)PMID 1659638
  2. Compton DR, Prescott WR, Siegel CS, Gordon PM, Razdan RK, Martin BR. Evaluation of ether and free hydroxyl analogs of delta-8, delta-9, 11-THC as cannabinoid antagonists. NIDA Res Monogr 1990;105:297-298 (new tab)PMID 1652071
  3. ChEMBL, CHEMBL114082: activities extracted from Compton et al. 1991 (document CHEMBL1125839) (new tab)
  4. Tanaka R, Ito M, Kikura-Hanajiri R. Identification of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) Analogs, Including Methyl Ether Derivatives of THC and Hexahydrocannabiphorol, THC Methyl Carbonate and Its Synthetic by-Product, in Commercially Available Oil Products. Drug Test Anal 2026;18:690-698 (new tab)PMID 41850764
  5. ANSM, decision of 6 February 2026 amending the list of substances classified as narcotics and the list of psychotropic substances (new tab)
  6. ANSM, consolidated list of substances classified as narcotics, updated 16 February 2026 (new tab)
  7. PubChem, compound CID 15114753 (new tab)

Identifiers

Names

Common name
Δ8-THC methyl ether
IUPAC name
(6aR,10aR)-1-methoxy-6,6,9-trimethyl-3-pentyl-6a,7,10,10a-tetrahydrobenzo[c]chromene
Other names
Delta-8-THCM · Δ8-THCM · 1-methyl-delta8-THC · Methyl-delta8-tetrahydrocannabinol · (6aR,10aR)-1-methoxy-6,6,9-trimethyl-3-pentyl-6a,7,10,10a-tetrahydrobenzo[c]chromene

Identifiers

Formula
C₂₂H₃₂O₂
CAS
1451-20-3
PubChem CID
15114753(new tab)
InChIKey
GRLARWXSTOXAGR-QZTJIDSGSA-N
SMILES
CCCCCC1=CC2=C([C@@H]3CC(=CC[C@H]3C(O2)(C)C)C)C(=C1)OC

Machine-readable entry (JSON)

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