JWH-250 or (1-pentyl-3-(2-methoxyphenylacetyl)indole) is an analgesic chemical from the phenylacetylindole family that acts as a cannabinoid agonist at both the CB1 and CB2 receptors, with a Ki of 11 nM at CB1 and 33 nM at CB2. Unlike many of the older JWH series compounds, this compound does not have a naphthalene ring, instead occupying this position with a 2'-methoxy-phenylacetyl group, making JWH-250 a representative member of a new class of cannabinoid ligands. Other 2'-substituted analogues such as the methyl, chloro and bromo compounds are also active and somewhat more potent.
JWH-203 (1-pentyl-3-(2-chlorophenylacetyl)indole) is an analgesic chemical from the phenylacetylindole family that acts as a cannabinoid agonist with approximately equal affinity at both the CB1 and CB2 receptors, having a Ki of 8.0 nM at CB1 and 7.0 nM at CB2. It was originally discovered by, and named after, Dr. John W. Huffman, but has subsequently been sold without his permission as an ingredient of synthetic cannabis smoking blends. Similar to the related 2'-methoxy compound JWH-250, the 2'-bromo compound JWH-249, and the 2'-methyl compound JWH-251, JWH-203 has a phenylacetyl group in place of the naphthoyl ring used in most aminoalkylindole cannabinoid compounds, and has the strongest in vitro binding affinity for the cannabinoid receptors of any compound in the phenylacetyl group.
RCS-8 (also known as 1-(2-cyclohexylethyl)-3-(2-methoxyphenylacetyl)indole, SR-18, and BTM-8) is a synthetic cannabinoid that has been found as an ingredient of "herbal" synthetic cannabis blends. It can be described as an analogue of JWH-250 with the 1-pentyl group replaced by 1-(2-cyclohexylethyl), and can be expected to be less potent than JWH-250 (cf. JWH-007 and its cyclohexylethyl analogue). Despite not having been reported in the scientific or patent literature as yet, reputed recreational use of RCS-8 in the United States has led to it being specifically listed in a proposed 2011 amendment to the Controlled Substances Act, aiming to add a number of synthetic drugs into Schedule I. In addition, all CB1 receptor agonists of the 3-phenylacetylindole class such as RCS-8 are Schedule I Controlled Substances.
AM-2201 is a recreational designer drug that acts as a potent but nonselective full agonist for the cannabinoid receptor. It is part of the AM series of cannabinoids discovered by Alexandros Makriyannis at Northeastern University.
AM-679 (part of the AM cannabinoid series) is a drug that acts as a moderately potent agonist for the cannabinoid receptors, with a Ki of 13.5 nM at CB1 and 49.5 nM at CB2. AM-679 was one of the first 3-(2-iodobenzoyl)indole derivatives that was found to have significant cannabinoid receptor affinity, and while AM-679 itself has only modest affinity for these receptors, it was subsequently used as a base to develop several more specialised cannabinoid ligands that are now widely used in research, including the potent CB1 agonists AM-694 and AM-2233, and the selective CB2 agonist AM-1241. AM-679 was first identified as having been sold as a cannabinoid designer drug in Hungary in 2011, along with another novel compound 1-pentyl-3-(1-adamantoyl)indole.
AM-1248 is a drug that acts as a moderately potent agonist for both the cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2, but with some dispute between sources over its exact potency and selectivity. Replacing the 3-(1-naphthoyl) group found in many indole derived cannabinoid ligands, with an adamantoyl group, generally confers significant CB2 selectivity, but reasonable CB1 affinity and selectivity is retained when an N-methylpiperidin-2-ylmethyl substitution is used at the indole 1-position. The related compound 1-pentyl-3-(1-adamantoyl)indole was identified as having been sold as a cannabinoid designer drug in Hungary in 2011, along with another synthetic cannabinoid AM-679.
JWH-302 (1-pentyl-3-(3-methoxyphenylacetyl)indole) is an analgesic chemical from the phenylacetylindole family, which acts as a cannabinoid agonist with moderate affinity at both the CB1 and CB2 receptors. It is a positional isomer of the more common drug JWH-250, though it is slightly less potent with a Ki of 17 nM at CB1, compared to 11 nM for JWH-250. Because of their identical molecular weight and similar fragmentation patterns, JWH-302 and JWH-250 can be very difficult to distinguish by GC-MS testing.
Cannabipiperidiethanone (CPE or 1-(N-methylpiperidin-2-ylmethyl)-3-(2-methoxyphenylacetyl)indole) is a synthetic cannabinoid that has been found as an ingredient of "herbal" synthetic cannabis blends sold in Japan, alongside JWH-122 and JWH-081. Its binding affinity was measured at the CB1 and CB2 receptors and it was found to have an IC50 of 591 nM at CB1 and 968 nM at CB2, making it 2.3 times and 9.4 times weaker than JWH-250 at these two targets respectively.
MN-25 (UR-12) is a drug invented by Bristol-Myers Squibb, that acts as a reasonably selective agonist of peripheral cannabinoid receptors. It has moderate affinity for CB2 receptors with a Ki of 11 nM, but 22x lower affinity for the psychoactive CB1 receptors with a Ki of 245 nM. The indole 2-methyl derivative has the ratio of affinities reversed however, with a Ki of 8 nM at CB1 and 29 nM at CB2, which contrasts with the usual trend of 2-methyl derivatives having increased selectivity for CB2 (cf. JWH-018 vs JWH-007, JWH-081 vs JWH-098).
UR-144 (TMCP-018, KM-X1, MN-001, YX-17) is a drug invented by Abbott Laboratories, that acts as a selective full agonist of the peripheral cannabinoid receptor CB2, but with much lower affinity for the psychoactive CB1 receptor.
APICA is an indole based drug that acts as a potent agonist for the cannabinoid receptors.
For the Space Shuttle Mission, see STS-135
PB-22 is a designer drug offered by online vendors as a cannabimimetic agent, and detected being sold in synthetic cannabis products in Japan in 2013. PB-22 represents a structurally unique synthetic cannabinoid chemotype, since it contains an ester linker at the indole 3-position, rather than the precedented ketone of JWH-018 and its analogs, or the amide of APICA and its analogs.
QUCHIC is a designer drug offered by online vendors as a cannabimimetic agent, and was first detected being sold in synthetic cannabis products in Japan in early 2013, and subsequently also in New Zealand. The structure of QUCHIC appears to use an understanding of structure-activity relationships within the indole class of cannabimimetics, although its design origins are unclear. QUCHIC, along with QUPIC, represents a structurally unique synthetic cannabinoid chemotype since it contains an ester linker at the indole 3-position rather than the precedented ketone of JWH-018 and its analogues, or the amide of SDB-001 and its analogues.
ADBICA (also known as ADB-PICA) is a designer drug identified in synthetic cannabis blends in Japan in 2013. ADBICA had not previously been reported in the scientific literature prior to its sale as a component of synthetic cannabis blends. ADBICA features a carboxamide group at the 3-indole position, like SDB-001 and STS-135. The stereochemistry of the tert-butyl side-chain in the product is unresolved, though in a large series of indazole derivatives structurally similar to ADBICA that are disclosed in Pfizer patent WO 2009/106980, activity resides exclusively in the (S) enantiomers. ADBICA is a potent agonist of the CB1 receptor and CB2 receptor with an EC50 value of 0.69 nM and 1.8 nM respectively.
SDB-006 is a drug that acts as a potent agonist for the cannabinoid receptors, with an EC50 of 19 nM for human CB2 receptors, and 134 nM for human CB1 receptors. It was discovered during research into the related compound SDB-001 which had been sold illicitly as "2NE1". SDB-006 metabolism has been described in literature.
5F-SDB-006 is a drug that acts as a potent agonist for the cannabinoid receptors, with an EC50 of 50 nM for human CB1 receptors, and 123 nM for human CB2 receptors. It was discovered during research into the related compound APICA which had been sold illicitly as "2NE1". 5F-SDB-006 is the terminally fluorinated analog of SDB-006, just as STS-135 is the terminally fluorinated analog of APICA. Given the known metabolic liberation (and presence as an impurity) of amantadine in the related compound APINACA, it is suspected that metabolic hydrolysis of the amide group of 5F-SDB-006 may release benzylamine.
SDB-005 is an indazole-based synthetic cannabinoid that has been sold online as a designer drug. It is presumed to be an agonist of the CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors. SDB-005 is the indazole core analog of PB-22 where the 8-hydroxyquinoline has also been replaced with a naphthalene group.
NE-CHMIMO (CHM-018) is an indole-based synthetic cannabinoid that is presumed to be a potent agonist of the CB1 receptor and has been sold online as a designer drug. NE-CHMIMO is the 1-cyclohexylmethyl (instead of 1-pentyl) analogue of the first-generation synthetic cannabinoid JWH-018. The corresponding cyclohexylmethyl derivative of JWH-081 had also been reported several months earlier.
