Chloroform: Past and Present

Chloroform is a substance that has reached the national consciousness through a number of avenues, some based in fact, others in fiction. We have been treated to images of King Kong being taken down by several jars of chloroform powder as well as seen crime dramas on television featuring people abducting captives by means of a chloroform-soaked rag. Outside of the media, chloroform is a very interesting anesthetic chemical and psychoactive substance that has a long history of use.

Chemically speaking, chloroform is made up of three chlorine atoms bound to a hydrogen and carbon atom at its core. Its history begins in the 1830s in America when Samuel Guthrie first discovered it. Its synthesis was successfully completed several months later by French chemist Eugene Soubeiran. However, it was not until the 1840s that chloroform began to attract serious notice from a burgeoning field of modern medicine. At the time chloroform was discovered, there was no anesthesia involved in surgical procedures anywhere in the western world. Patients were conscious throughout their horrific ordeal, and many were known to die of shock or infection as a result of the surgery. However, chloroform's properties as an anesthetic were discovered in 1847 and a new important element of surgery was born.

Chloroform's use in surgery began at nearly the same time another clinical anesthetic, ether, was being demonstrated. Now patients no longer had to endure such agonizing pain or consciousness during bloody surgical procedures. In addition, the chloroform relaxed the muscles of the patient's body, reducing the risk of spasm or thrashing which could tear wounds. Although chloroform was a popular anesthetic up until the early 20^th century, it soon fell out of favor with physicians due to a number of complications known to arise with its use, including cardiac arrhythmia.

Today, chloroform enjoys limited commercial use. It is used in certain refrigerants as well as for a means of extracting certain basic chemicals from plant or other organic matter. Interestingly, chloroform is used to extract psychoactive chemicals such as morphine from opium and LSA from morning glory seeds.

Finally, chloroform has its recreational uses. It is similar to other inhalants in that it produces short highs of euphoria, cognitive distortion, reduction of pain, and sometimes visual or auditory hallucinations. However, like aerosol inhalants, chloroform carries with it certain risks and it is toxic above a certain level. Chloroform was an effective anesthetic because it depressed the central nervous system, and in sufficient doses it can lead to lightheadedness, dizziness, and lack of coordination. Furthermore, chronic use of chloroform can cause permanent liver damage due to a toxic overload.

Chloroform is an interesting chemical whose time has passed in one arena, but begun in another. Although it will never enjoy the same kind of prestige it once did in the field of medicine, chloroform is nonetheless in use today and is a relic of the early golden age of chemical discovery.