Uses
In terms of scale, the most important reaction of chloroform is with hydrogen fluoride to give monochlorodifluoromethane (CFC-22), a precursor in the production of polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon):
CHCl3 + 2 HF → CHClF2 + 2 HClThe reaction is conducted in the presence of a catalytic amount of mixed antimony halides. Chlorodifluoromethane is then converted into tetrafluoroethylene, the main precursor to Teflon. Before the Montreal Protocol, chlorodifluoromethane (designated as R-22) was also a popular refrigerant. Solvent
The hydrogen attached to carbon in chloroform participates in hydrogen bonding. Worldwide, chloroform is also used in pesticide formulations, as a solvent for fats, oils, rubber, alkaloids, waxes, gutta-percha, and resins, as a cleansing agent, grain fumigant, in fire extinguishers, and in the rubber industry. CDCl3 is a common solvent used in NMR spectroscopy. Lewis acid
In solvents such as CCl4 and alkanes, chloroform hydrogen bonds to a variety of Lewis bases. HCCl3 is classified as a hard acid and the ECW model lists its acid parameters as EA = 1.56 and CA = 0.44. Reagent
As a reagent, chloroform serves as a source of the dichlorocarbene :CCl2 group. It reacts with aqueous sodium hydroxide usually in the presence of a phase transfer catalyst to produce dichlorocarbene, :CCl2. This reagent effects ortho-formylation of activated aromatic rings such as phenols, producing aryl aldehydes in a reaction known as the Reimer–Tiemann reaction. Alternatively, the carbene can be trapped by an alkene to form a cyclopropane derivative. In the Kharasch addition, chloroform forms the CHCl2 free radical in addition to alkenes.
He considered Simpson a charlatan, but one of these prizes is named the Simpson Prize for Obstetrics. It is, however, probably a strange reverse compliment, as arguably any Simpson prize in the wider public eye should be a prize for anaesthesia. By not calling it this he effectively snubbed Simpson whilst at the same time appearing to honour him.The use of chloroform during surgery expanded rapidly thereafter in Europe. In the 1850s, chloroform was used by the physician John Snow during the birth of Queen Victorias last two children. In the United States, chloroform began to replace ether as an anesthetic at the beginning of the 20th century; it was quickly abandoned in favor of ether upon discovery of its toxicity, however, especially its tendency to cause fatal cardiac arrhythmia analogous to what is now termed "sudden sniffers death". Some people used chloroform as a recreational drug or to attempt suicide. One possible mechanism of action for chloroform is that it increases movement of potassium ions through certain types of potassium channels in nerve cells. Chloroform could also be mixed with other anesthetic agents such as ether to make C.E. mixture, or ether and alcohol to make A.C.E. mixture.In 1848, Hannah Greener, a 15-year-old girl who was having an infected toenail removed, died after being given the anesthetic. Her autopsy establishing the cause of death was undertaken by John Fife assisted by Robert Mortimer Glover. A number of physically fit patients died after inhaling it.