Chloroform: Encyclopedia II - Chloroform - History

Chloroform - History

Chloroform was discovered in July, 1831 by American physician Samuel Guthrie (1782-1848), and independently a few months later by French chemist Eugène Soubeiran (1797-1859) and Justus von Liebig (1803-1873) in Germany. Soubeiran, who produced chloroform through the action of chlorine bleach powder (calcium hypochlorite) upon acetone (propanone) or ethanol (an application of the generic process known as the haloform reaction). Chloroform was named and chemically characterised in 1834 by Jean-Baptiste Dumas (1800-1884). Its anaesthetic properties were noted early in 1847 by Marie-Jean-Pierre Flourens (1794-1867).

In 1847, the Edinburgh obstetrician James Young Simpson first used chloroform for general anesthesia during childbirth. The use of chloroform during surgery expanded rapidly thereafter in Europe. In the United States, chloroform began to replace ether as an anesthetic at the beginning of the 20th century; however, it was quickly abandoned in favor of ether upon discovery of its toxicity, especially its tendency to cause fatal cardiac arrhythmia analogous to what is now termed "sudden sniffer's death". Ether is still the preferred anesthetic in some developing nations due to its high therapeutic index, economy, and relative safety — its only disadvantages are its pungent, unpleasant odor and its tendency to cause vomiting. Trichloroethylene, a halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon related to chloroform, was proposed as a safer alternative, though it, too, was later found to be carcinogenic.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki