H2-CBD.Dihydrocannabidiol

H2-CBD (8,9-dihydrocannabidiol) differs from CBD by the saturation of the double bond of the isopropenyl group, which becomes an isopropyl; according to Mascal et al. (2019), it therefore cannot be converted into THC by any reasonable synthetic route. It can be obtained by hydrogenating CBD or by total synthesis from olivetol and α-phellandrene, a route described by Crombie et al. in 1988. In rats, injected intraperitoneally (50, 100 or 200 mg/kg) 1 h before pentylenetetrazole, it reduced the number and severity of induced seizures with an efficacy comparable to that of CBD at 200 mg/kg (Mascal et al., 2019). In vitro, against Staphylococcus aureus (minimum inhibitory concentration of 1.25 µg/mL) and in antioxidant tests, it performed very similarly to CBD (Wu et al., 2023). No measurement of affinity for cannabinoid receptors, no pharmacokinetic data and no human study were found. The UK ACMD notes that the name « H2-CBD » is ambiguous, since hydrogenation can affect the ring or the isopropenyl group, and that products sold are probably mixtures (2025). In France, the ANSM decision of 22 May 2024 lists it by name as a narcotic.

Source

Semi-synthetic (CBD hydrogenated at its isopropenyl group) or fully synthetic; not described as a constituent of cannabis

No known biosynthesis. H2-CBD can be obtained from CBD by hydrogenating the double bond of the isopropenyl group, or by total synthesis from olivetol and α-phellandrene, without any cannabis-derived precursor (Mascal et al., 2019, after Crombie et al., 1988).

European Union

Not listed in the UN conventions; no EU-specific control measure was found. Outside the EU, the UK ACMD considered in May 2025 that, for hydrogenated forms of CBD such as H4-CBD, the evidence of psychoactivity and harm did not at present justify control under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Checked on 20/10/2026.

France

Narcotic (Annex IV of the order of 22 February 1990), listed by name by the decision of the ANSM director general of 22 May 2024 (« H2-CBD ou dihydrocannabidiol ou H2-cannabidiol »), in force since June 2024. This named listing is distinct from the generic benzo[c]chromene class, which H2-CBD, lacking the pyran ring, does not meet. Checked on 20/10/2026.

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

Family

Semi-synthetic cannabinoid › CBD derivative

Chemistry

C5 side chain · neutral form

Verification

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

Wikipedia (English)

8,9-Dihydrocannabidiol (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. 1Mascal M, Hafezi N, Wang D, Hu Y, Serra G, Dallas ML, Spencer JPE. Synthetic, non-intoxicating 8,9-dihydrocannabidiol for the mitigation of seizures. Sci Rep 2019;9:7778 (new tab)PMID 31123271
2. 2Wu Q et al. 8,9-Dihydrocannabidiol, an Alternative of Cannabidiol, Its Preparation, Antibacterial and Antioxidant Ability. Molecules 2023;28 (new tab)PMID 36615636
3. 3ANSM, Decision of 22/05/2024 amending the list of substances classified as narcotics (new tab)
4. 4ANSM, consolidated list of substances classified as narcotics, updated 26/06/2026 (new tab)
5. 5ACMD (UK), Semi-synthetic cannabinoids: cannabinoids related to tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol, May 2025 (§3.5, §9.8 and note 4) (new tab)
6. 6PubChem CID 11716677 (8,9-dihydrocannabidiol); GSRS UNII K2X8KX5UDK (CAS 877660-90-7) (new tab)

SMILES

CCCCCC1=CC(=C(C(=C1)O)[C@@H]2C=C(CC[C@H]2C(C)C)C)O

Machine-readable entry (JSON)

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