MDMB-CHMINACA.

MDMB-CHMINACA belongs to the indazole-3-carboxamide class: an indazole nucleus, a cyclohexylmethyl tail, a carboxamide link and a tert-leucine methyl ester head. It is a presumed CB1 receptor agonist, like the other members of the class, whose metabolism studies stress severe toxic effects on consumption, attributed to their high affinity and potency; its own affinity and potency values could not be verified in an open source. In mice, a single administration causes marked catalepsy, a disturbance of locomotion and an impairment of recognition memory one hour and then three hours after administration, with a clear rise in anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol in the hippocampus. Beyond CB1, no target has been explored for this molecule. Above all, no controlled study and no published clinical case concerns it in its own right: human data are lacking, on effects as on toxicity, tolerance and dependence. The available documentation is essentially limited to two in vitro metabolism studies, one behavioural study in rodents and a few analytical chemistry publications.

Source

An entirely synthetic molecule, absent from cannabis as from any living organism. It has no connection with hemp or with cannabidiol products. Its circulation remains documented only in fragmentary form: a powder containing its acid was intercepted in a postal consignment (Lee 2018), and the molecule has been identified in forensic casework (Presley 2019).

No known biosynthetic pathway: the molecule is produced by no living organism and comes from organic synthesis. Manufacture is described here only by chemical class, the indazole-3-carboxamides.

European Union

MDMB-CHMINACA is not among the substances named in the annex of Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA as supplemented by Directives (EU) 2017/2103, 2019/369, 2020/1687, 2021/802, 2022/1326 and 2025/2062; the annex does name MDMB-CHMICA (Directive 2017/2103), ADB-CHMINACA (Directive 2019/369) and, since Directive 2021/802, MDMB-4en-PINACA and 4F-MDMB-BICA. It therefore does not fall under the harmonised European definition of “drug” under its own name. Control rests with national law, which most often reaches it through generic clauses, as in France. Internationally, the molecule is not in Schedule II of the 1971 Convention, whose 2024 Green List names ADB-CHMINACA and MDMB-CHMICA but not MDMB-CHMINACA.

France

Scheduled as a narcotic in France, but not under its own name. MDMB-CHMINACA is not among the substances named explicitly: the consolidated list kept by ANSM, in its update of 16 February 2026, names in annex III AB-CHMINACA, ADB-CHMINACA (or MAB-CHMINACA) and, under the entry “MDMB-CHMICA or MMB-CHMINACA”, the indole derivative MDMB-CHMICA. It falls instead under the generic definition of the family of indazole-3-carboxamide derivatives entered in annex IV of the decree of 22 February 1990, which covers compounds bearing at nitrogen in position 1 a substituent of the cycloalkylmethyl type, the carboxamide nitrogen carrying a group of the 1-alkoxy-1-oxo-butan-2-yl type, substituted or not at position 3 by one or two alkyl, cycloalkyl or phenyl groups. The cyclohexylmethyl tail and the tert-leucine methyl ester head of MDMB-CHMINACA meet these criteria. The block of synthetic cannabinoids to which this definition belongs is tied in the list to several decrees (24 February 2009, 19 May 2015, 31 March 2017, 3 October 2017 and 14 October 2019). Production, import, possession, transfer and use are therefore criminally punishable on the same footing as for the substances named explicitly.

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

Family

Synthetic CB receptor agonist › New psychoactive substance

Class

indazole-3-carboxamide

Verification

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

Wikipedia (English)

MDMB-CHMINACA (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. 1Presley, Logan and Jansen-Varnum, Drug Testing and Analysis, 2019: in vitro phase I metabolism of MDMB-CHMINACA in human liver microsomes (new tab)PMID 31108568
2. 2Xu et al., Journal of Analytical Toxicology, 2021: rapid identification of MDMB-CHMINACA metabolites using zebrafish and human liver microsomes (new tab)PMID 32020177
3. 3Lee et al., Forensic Science International, 2018: identification of DMBA-CHMINACA, an active metabolite common to ADB-CHMINACA and MDMB-CHMINACA (new tab)PMID 30216842
4. 4Pineda Garcia et al., International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2024: behavioural response and endocannabinoid disruption after MDMB-CHMINACA in mice (new tab)PMID 38542057
5. 5Mohamed Masoud et al., Journal of Chromatography A, 2024: esterification and degradation of amide-functionalised synthetic cannabinoids in GC-MS analysis (formation of MDMB-CHMINACA from MAB-CHMINACA in methanol) (new tab)PMID 38861824
6. 6Pfizer patent WO 2009/106982, « Indazole derivatives » (priority 29 February 2008, filed 26 February 2009, published 3 September 2009) (new tab)
7. 7ANSM, consolidated list of substances classified as narcotics, updated 16 February 2026 (annex III: AB-CHMINACA, ADB-CHMINACA, MDMB-CHMICA; annex IV: family of 3-carboxamide indazole derivatives) (new tab)
8. 8Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2021/802 of 12 March 2021 amending the Annex to Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA (new tab)
9. 9INCB, Green List of psychotropic substances under international control, 35th edition, 2024 (Schedule II: MDMB-CHMINACA absent) (new tab)
10. 10PubChem, MDMB-CHMINACA, CID 121491808 (new tab)

SMILES

CC(C)(C)[C@@H](C(=O)OC)NC(=O)C1=NN(C2=CC=CC=C21)CC3CCCCC3

Machine-readable entry (JSON)

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