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Synthetic

JWH-018Also known as 1-pentyl-3-(1-naphthoyl)indole

A naphthoylindole agonist at CB1 and CB2, detected in « Spice » mixtures; a narcotic in France since 2009.

Narcotic: named in schedule
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.

C₂₄H₂₃NO

CAS 209414-07-3

Family
Synthetic CB receptor agonistNew psychoactive substance
Molar mass
341.45 g/mol

Updated on

In plain terms

JWH-018 is a synthetic cannabinoid found in smoking mixtures sold as incense (« Spice »). It acts on the same receptors as THC. It has been a narcotic in France since 2009 and is listed in Schedule II of the 1971 Convention.

Receptors and activity

Target network

CB1AgonistKi = 2.6 nM · human[3H]CP55940 displacement, HEK293-EBNA
  • Activates

The lower the cited value, the closer the target sits to JWH-018: 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 JWH-018.

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. CB1AgonistKi = 2.6 nM · human77 out of 100

    Sparkes et al. 2022, RSC Med Chem (new tab) · [3H]CP55940 displacement, HEK293-EBNA

  2. CB2AgonistKi = 9.6 nM · human67 out of 100

    Sparkes et al. 2022, RSC Med Chem (new tab) · [3H]CP55940 displacement, HEK293 (HA-tagged CB2)

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

JWH-018 (1-pentyl-3-(1-naphthoyl)indole) is a naphthoylindole: an indole bearing a pentyl chain on the nitrogen and a naphthoyl group at position 3. In the cannabimimetic indole series, binding to the CB1 and CB2 receptors is optimal with a five-carbon chain (Aung et al. 2000). It activates human CB1 and CB2 receptors (Banister et al. 2015); affinities measured by [3H]CP55940 displacement are 2.57 nM at CB1 and 9.55 nM at CB2 (Sparkes et al. 2022). France listed it as a narcotic by the order of 24 February 2009, together with CP 47,497 and HU-210, three molecules associated with the « Spice » smoking mixture (ministerial reply to written question no. 42608). It has been in Schedule II of the 1971 Convention since CND decision 58/10 (13 March 2015).

Key sources.

History

Source
A naphthoylindole from the cannabimimetic indole series studied in the laboratory (Aung et al. 2000), later found in smoking mixtures sold as incense

Origin

Laboratory synthesis

Naphthoylindole: an indole ring bearing a pentyl chain on the nitrogen and a 1-naphthoyl group at position 3 [naphthalen-1-yl(1-pentyl-1H-indol-3-yl)methanone]

Classification

Family, origin and source verification

Family

Synthetic CB receptor agonist › New psychoactive substance

Class

naphthoylindole

Verification

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

Wikipedia (English)

JWH-018 (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. Aung · Drug Alcohol Depend 2000 (new tab)PMID 10940540
  2. Banister · ACS Chem Neurosci 2015 (new tab)PMID 25921407
  3. Sparkes · RSC Med Chem 2022 (new tab)PMID 35308023

Identifiers

Names

Common name
JWH-018 (1-pentyl-3-(1-naphthoyl)indole)
IUPAC name
naphthalen-1-yl-(1-pentylindol-3-yl)methanone
Other names
AM-678

Identifiers

Formula
C₂₄H₂₃NO
CAS
209414-07-3
PubChem CID
10382701(new tab)
InChIKey
JDNLPKCAXICMBW-UHFFFAOYSA-N
SMILES
CCCCCN1C=C(C2=CC=CC=C21)C(=O)C3=CC=CC4=CC=CC=C43

Machine-readable entry (JSON)

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