JWH-164 is a synthetic cannabinoid receptor

Cannabinoid receptor

The cannabinoid receptors are a class of cell membrane receptors under the G protein-coupled receptor superfamily. As is typical of G protein-coupled receptors, the cannabinoid receptors contain seven transmembrane spanning domains...

 agonist

Agonist

An agonist is a chemical that binds to a receptor of a cell and triggers a response by that cell. Agonists often mimic the action of a naturally occurring substance...

 from the naphthoylindole family. It has approximately equal affinity for the CB₁ and CB₂ receptors, with a K_i of 6.6nM at CB₁ and 6.9nM at CB₂. JWH-164 is a positional isomer of the related compound JWH-081

JWH-081

JWH-081 is an analgesic chemical from the naphthoylindole family, which acts as a cannabinoid agonist at both the CB1 and CB2 receptors. With a Ki of 1.2nM it is fairly selective for the CB1 subtype, its affinity at this subtype approximately 10x the affinity at CB2. It was discovered by and named...

, but with a methoxy

Methoxy

In chemistry , methoxy refers to the functional group consisting of a methyl group bound to oxygen. This alkoxy group has the formula O–CH3.The word is used in organic nomenclature usually to describe an ether...

 group at the 7-position of the naphthyl ring, rather than the 4-position as in JWH-081. Its potency is intermediate between that of JWH-081 and its ring unsubstituted derivative JWH-018

JWH-018

JWH-018 or AM-678 is an analgesic chemical from the naphthoylindole family, which acts as a full agonist at both the CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors, with some selectivity for CB2...

, demonstrating that substitution of the naphthyl 7-position can also result in increased cannabinoid receptor binding affinity.