Can. J. Chem. 56, 1681 (1978.It has been shown previously that certain anesthetics hinder the formation of hydrogen

It has been shown previously that halofluorocarbons having anesthetic potency hinder the formation of hydrogen bonds (HB) of the [Formula: see text] types and it has been suggested that this is linked to a competitive mechanism involving another type of association. Since some of the most potent and widely used fluorocarbon anesthetics contain a mobile hydrogen atom the question arises if in such molecules the competitive mechanism involves the formation of HB's with the anesthetic as the proton donor instead of, or in addition to, association due to the electron acceptor properties of the higher halogens as seems to be the case for those fluorocarbon anesthetics which contain no hydrogen. Chloroform, halothane, methoxyflurane, enflurane, and 4,5-dichloro-2,2-difluoro-l,3-dioxolane have been studied from this point of view with the result that both mechanisms appear to operate.