Cannabinoids

Pharmacological Actions of Cannabinoids 13

3CB 1 and CB 2 Cannabinoid Receptor Ligands

3.1 CannabinoidReceptorAgonists

In terms of chemical structure, established cannabinoid receptor agonists fall
essentially into four main groups: classical, nonclassical, aminoalkylindole and
eicosanoid (reviewed in Howlett et al. 2002; Pertwee 1999a).

• Theclassicalgroupconsistsofdibenzopyranderivativesthatareeithercannabis-
  derived compounds (phytocannabinoids) or their synthetic analogues. Notable

examples are the phytocannabinoids∆^9 -THC,∆^8 -THC and cannabinol (Fig. 1),

andthesyntheticcannabinoids,11-hydroxy-∆^8 -THC-dimethylheptyl(HU-210),

JWH-133, L-759633, L-759656,l-nantradol and desacetyl-l-nantradol (Figs. 4

and 5).

Fig. 4.The structures of five synthetic classical cannabinoids