Is HHC 1000% stronger than THC and should it be launched?

A novel cannabinoid hit the public cannabis market for the first time recently and landed in Colorado. Hydrogenated THC, known as HHC, was and may still be banned from every market due to patents and laws. Variations of HHC are even 1000 percent stronger than THC. In addition, heavy metals are often used in production. Despite these considerations, HHC vape carts hit the market without an Accredited Certificate of Analysis (COA) or toxicity data.

Where does HHC come from?

HHC is an acronym for Hexahydrocannabinol. Adding hydrogen atoms to THC molecules – a process known as hydrogenation – creates it. The conversion of liquid vegetable oils into margarine takes place, for example, according to a similar process.

A misconception grows in the fact that there is more than one type of HHC. For example, more basic – hydroxylated – forms of HHC (alpha and beta HHC) are formed after THC is broken down in the gut. These compounds were originally discovered in the 1970s by scientists trying to modify THC and doing early studies on the endocannabinoid system (ECS). While Pfizer was developing another derivative of HHC in the 1980s.

Additionally, Mark Scialdone, Ph.D. owns a patent covering the newer parent molecules 9-HHC and 11-methyl-HHC. In total, there are well over a dozen different forms of this unusual cannabinoid.

Compared to THC, each variation of HHC has two more hydrogen atoms in the far left ring of the molecule. In addition, HHC is shy of an electron pair because the additional hydrogen displaces a crucial double electron bond in its eastern ring. These general properties only define the chemical structure, not the effect that each molecule has on the human body.

Is HHC the opposite of CBN?

I asked Markus Roggen Ph.D., President and CSO of Delic Labs, about side reactions in extracts, such as the formation of CBN. Oxygen can be built into an extraction that can cause some of the THC to break down into CBN and other unique cannabinoids (quinones). The breakdown occurs when hydrogen atoms are stripped from the THC molecule by oxygen atoms in a process called oxidation.

Instead of removing hydrogen from THC, a processor has to add hydrogen to make HHC – a reaction known as hydrogenation.

Hydrogenation is the opposite of oxidation. So the hydrogenation is actually a reduction of the molecule.

Dr. rye

Laboratories use metals to make HHC. to manufacture

Dr. Rye found that with normal extraction techniques you don’t have reducing environments. Actually, Metal catalysts are used to ensure that THC is reduced to HHC.

So, no HHC is not a molecule you would normally stumble upon in cannabis production. The responses required to get it are so far from what one would do in a cannabis manufacturing facility that there is no overlap.

Dr. rye

Our intestines are able to reduce THC into hydroxyl-HHC. A super potent edible theory?

After an edible is eaten, it generally passes through the intestines and into the liver. Some of it is destroyed, but any THC that gets into the liver is faced with enzymes that can alter its molecular structure. In general, the hydroxyl form of THC, known as 11-OH-THC, is discussed as part of a food’s psychoactive outcome. This is because enzymes in the digestive system hydroxylate THC to 11-OH-THC.

What is less discussed, however, is how the digestive system can naturally reduce THC into alpha and beta HHC molecules through biological hydrogenation. It should be noted that different species of animals metabolize THC into different amounts of alpha and beta HHC. Regardless of this, the human intestine is able to convert THC into HHC. [exposing an additional question.]

Hydrogenation is the addition of a hydrogen atom (H +). While the hydroxylation of cannabinoids occurs when a hydroxyl group (OH-) replaces a methyl group (CH3). The two processes are very different, although the same cannabinoid can be modified either way.

Spice, morphine and superagonists – where cannabinoid reductions hide

Edible cannabis has been reported to be stronger in some people due to the content of 11-OH-THC, a hydroxalated cannabinoid, that they produce. But what about alpha and beta HHC; Does the gut reduce THC into super-powerful hydrogenated HHC molecules?

Hydrogenated cannabinoids made by Pfizer played an infamous and much-discussed role decades after their creation. The synthetic cannabinoid blend – Spice – is made from beta-HHC derivatives from the pharmaceutical giant in the 1980s.

Today, it’s no surprise to anyone that a 1977 study on mice suggests that D9-THC isn’t as potent as morphine in terms of pain relief. Beta-HHC, on the other hand, was equipotent to morphine, but with significant differences in its effects. Old data suggest that beta-HHC is 1000% stronger than D9-THC. So should untested hydrogenated cannabinoids be sold on the open market in vape pens, gums, and creams?

Sale of HHC before accredited tests

Let’s say there are studies to ensure that the synthetic cannabinoid is safe and that every form of HHC in the product carries an ISO accredited COA. In this hypothetical case, the discussion of HHC boils down to ethics. However, we need to support safety studies and ISO-accredited COAs, as there is no quality assurance for HHC in humans beyond analytical data. This is vital as ISO accredited laboratory tests ensure that a product can be safe.

The position of each double bond defines the action of a molecule and the identity of the compound. For example, CBN is about 25% as strong as THC, and remember that the difference between THC and CBN is a loss of hydrogen. So if we take THC and add hydrogen, then we have a drastically different molecule that needs further testing to understand its safety profile.

Hydrogenated cannabinoids have been studied in mice, and this research suggests that HHC is a promising cancer treatment.

Spice is technically a superagonist that over-saturates the endocannabinoid system, a problem for addiction and addiction. If a proper lab test doesn’t exist, then how can you ensure that the HHC in this vape pen is not a completely unknown and synthetic superagonist, and not an easier reduction in THC?

In summary, unmodified botanicals produced solely by natural creations on earth may not be safe, but they are different from new medicinal substances. A new cannabinoid made by synthesis or major modification, be it HHC or a new drug, should have multi-year data behind it before any public sale.

Show your work

• The reduction of THC adds two hydrogen atoms to the molecule, reducing the cyclohexene ring to a cyclohexane ring.

sources

1. Bloom, AS, Dewey, WL, Harris, LS & Brosius, KK (1977). 9-nor-9beta-hydroxyhexahydrocannabinol, a cannabinoid with potent antinociceptive activity: Compare with morphine. The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 200 (2), 263-270.
2. Huffman, JW, Hepburn, SA, Reggio, PH, Hurst, DP, Wiley, JL and Martin, BR (2010). Synthesis and pharmacology of 1-methoxy analogs of CP-47,497. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, 18 (15), 5475-5482. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bmc.2010.06.054