JWH-020

JWH-020 belongs to the naphthoylindoles, a family of synthetic agonists of cannabinoid receptors: an indole ring carries a naphthoyl group at position 3 and a heptyl chain on the nitrogen. Measured on the mouse vas deferens, it inhibits electrically evoked contractions with an IC50 of 639 nM, and its effect is antagonised by SR141716A, a selective CB1 antagonist. A 2000 study reports that extending the chain to heptyl sharply reduces binding at both receptors, though the abstract consulted gives no value for this specific compound. No binding constant (Ki) and no human usage data are published in the sources consulted, so its risk profile remains poorly characterised.

Source

Entirely synthetic molecule, with no natural occurrence recorded in cannabis. It was described as a new compound in 1995 in a pharmacological study, then analysed in forensic toxicology as a synthetic cannabinoid.

No known biosynthetic pathway: the molecule results from organic synthesis, by acylation of an indole bearing a heptyl chain on the nitrogen with a naphthalene-1-carbonyl unit. Manufacture is described here only by its chemical class.

European Union

The sources consulted document no European Union control measure for this compound. At international level, it is absent from the 2026 Green List of the International Narcotics Control Board, which notably lists JWH-018 and AM-2201. Outside the Union, Uchiyama et al. (2015) classify it among the designated substances in Japan.

France

Classed as a narcotic in France through a generic family definition, without being named on the list. The consolidated ANSM list of 16 February 2026 does not name JWH-020 explicitly. Its structure does, however, meet the three conditions of the indol-3-yl methanone family (annex IV of the decree of 22 February 1990): a methanone bridge at position 3 of the indole ring, an alkyl substituent on the indole nitrogen (a heptyl chain), and a naphthyl group on the methanone carbon. The classification therefore rests on this family clause, not on a listing by name.

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

1. 1Pertwee RG et coll., European Journal of Pharmacology, 1995 : caractérisation de trois agonistes cannabinoïdes dont le 1-heptyl-3-(1-naphtoyl)indole, sur le canal déférent de souris (new tab)PMID 8666005
2. 2Aung MM et coll., Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 2000 : influence de la longueur de la chaîne N-1 des indoles cannabimimétiques sur la liaison CB1 et CB2 (new tab)PMID 10940540
3. 3Wiley JL et coll., Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 1998 : relations structure-activité des cannabinoïdes dérivés de l'indole et du pyrrole (new tab)PMID 9618400
4. 4Dresen S et coll., Journal of Mass Spectrometry, 2011 : dosage LC-MS/MS des aminoalkylindoles de synthèse dans le sérum, appliqué à des échantillons médico-légaux (new tab)PMID 21259394
5. 5Hutter M et coll., Journal of Chromatography B, 2012 : dosage de 22 cannabinoïdes de synthèse dans les cheveux humains par LC-MS/MS (new tab)PMID 22835826
6. 6Uchiyama N et coll., Yakugaku Zasshi, 2015 : évaluation d'un test de dépistage sur site des cannabinoïdes de synthèse dans les produits à base de plantes (new tab)PMID 25759062
7. 7ANSM, Liste consolidée des substances classées comme stupéfiants, mise à jour du 16 février 2026, annexe IV, définition de famille des indol-3-yl méthanones (new tab)
8. 8Organe international de contrôle des stupéfiants, Liste verte 2026 des substances psychotropes (tableaux de la convention de 1971) (new tab)
9. 9PubChem, Compound Summary CID 10406802, JWH-020 (new tab)

SMILES

CCCCCCCN1C=C(C2=CC=CC=C21)C(=O)C3=CC=CC4=CC=CC=C43

InChIKey

IHKDUDCDUKFOKK-UHFFFAOYSA-N

Machine-readable entry (JSON)

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