A quantum chemical study on the psychoactivity of cannabinoid compounds

A quantum chemical study on the influence of the frontier orbitals E-homo a nd E-lumo in the separation between psychoactive and psychoinactive cannabi noid compounds is performed. The calculated E-homo and E-lumo values showed that E-homo has no influence in this separation, while E-lumo has. The inf ormation on the substitution at the C4 position along with the calculated E -lumo values provided a model on possible mechanisms of action for the pres ence or absence of the psychoactivity. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All r ights reserved.