Cyclopropane

Cyclopropane is a colorless, highly flammable cyclic hydrocarbon with formula C₃H₆. It was formerly used as an inhaled general anesthetic.

Cycloalkane: A saturated hydrocarbon whose carbon atoms form one or more rings. Cyclopropane is the smallest cycloalkane, with three carbon atoms in its ring.
Inhalational anesthetic: A substance delivered by breathing that produces general anesthesia. Cyclopropane was administered as a gaseous inhalational anesthetic.
August Freund: An Austrian chemist who reported the synthesis of cyclopropane in 1881. Freund first prepared the three-carbon ring compound.
Flammability: The ease with which a substance ignites and sustains combustion. Cyclopropane ignites readily and can form explosive mixtures with oxygen.
Angle strain: Destabilization caused when molecular bond angles differ from their preferred values. Cyclopropane's carbon bond angles are compressed far below the tetrahedral angle.
Anesthesia machine: A medical device that delivers controlled anesthetic gases and supports ventilation. Cyclopropane required equipment capable of delivering a flammable gas safely.
Ring strain: The added energy and altered bonding associated with cyclic molecules whose geometry is constrained. Cyclopropane became a classic example of substantial strain in a small ring.
Combustion: A chemical reaction in which a fuel reacts rapidly with an oxidizer, releasing heat. Cyclopropane's combustion risk governed its handling in operating rooms.
Bent bond: A chemical bond whose electron density curves away from the straight internuclear axis. Cyclopropane's strained ring bonds are described by bent, outward-curving electron density.
Closed-circuit anesthesia: Anesthesia delivery that recirculates exhaled gases after carbon dioxide removal and oxygen replenishment. Low concentrations and recirculation helped limit the amount of costly, explosive cyclopropane used.

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