Sevoflurane (Molecule of the Month for June 2007)
Fluoromethyl
Sevoflurane is used for induction and maintenance of general anesthesia (unconsciousness). Together with desflurane, it is replacing isoflurane and halothane in modern anesthesiology. It is often administered in a mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen. After desflurane it is the volatile anesthetic with the fastest onset and offset. Though desflurane has the lowest blood/gas coefficient of the currently used volatile anesthetics, sevoflurane is the preferred agent for mask induction due to its lesser irritation to mucous membranes.
It is a sweet-smelling, non-flammable, highly fluorinated methyl isopropyl ether, and is a liquid at room temperature and is administered via an anesthetic vaporizer attached to an anesthetic machine.
Sevoflurane was introduced into clinical practice initially in Japan in 1990.
Formal Chemical Name (IUPAC)
1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-(fluoromethoxy)propane
References
click on the picture of Sevoflurane above to interact
with the 3D model of the
Sevoflurane structure
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C4 H3 F7 O
Update by Karl Harrison
(Molecule of the Month for
June 2007
)
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