Charles Walter Suckling (24 July 1920 – 31 October 2013) was a British

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...

who first synthesised

halothane Halothane, sold under the brand name Fluothane among others, is a general anaesthetic. It can be used to induce or maintain anaesthesia. One of its benefits is that it does not increase the production of saliva, which can be particularly useful i ...

, a volatile inhalational anaesthetic in 1951, while working at the Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) Central Laboratory in

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form th ...

Biography

He was born in Teddington, London in 1920, the son of Edward Ernest and Barbara (née Thomson) Suckling, and educated at Oldershaw Grammar School, Wallasey and

Liverpool University , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

.McCann, Michael J.; Suckling, Colin J. (2019). "Charles Walter Suckling. 24 July 1920—30 October 2013". ''Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society''
doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.2018.0025
/ref> He worked, initially as a research chemist, for ICI from 1942 to 1982, becoming Deputy Chairman of Mond Division in 1969 and Chairman of Paints Division in 1972, finally being appointed General Manager of Research in 1977 (until retirement in 1982). He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

in 1978. He married Eleanor Margaret Watterson in 1946; they had two sons and a daughter. He died on 31 October 2013.Dr Charles Walter Suckling CBE FRS
/ref>

Halothane research

At the time of Suckling's original research, the main anaesthetic gases in use were chloroform and

diethyl ether Diethyl ether, or simply ether, is an organic compound in the ether class with the formula , sometimes abbreviated as (see Pseudoelement symbols). It is a colourless, highly volatile, sweet-smelling ("ethereal odour"), extremely flammable li ...

, both of which had several serious drawbacks. Ether was highly flammable, which was particularly dangerous in operating theatres as electrical equipment such as diathermy became more common. Chloroform was toxic to the liver. The

halogenated In chemistry, halogenation is a chemical reaction that entails the introduction of one or more halogens into a compound. Halide-containing compounds are pervasive, making this type of transformation important, e.g. in the production of polymers, ...

alkanes (alkyl halides, also known as haloalkanes) in general, and in particular the fluorinated compounds were promising because they were volatile but not flammable. Suckling had worked on such compounds extensively during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, when they were used in the production of high-octane aviation fuel, and in the purification of uranium-235. He proceeded to synthesise a variety of fluorinated hydrocarbons before evaluating them for anaesthetic properties. He liaised closely with clinicians, initially in setting target physicochemical properties for ideal agents and then later in evaluating the developed compounds. Suckling first investigated halothane's anaesthetic action by experimenting on

mealworm Mealworms are the larval form of the yellow mealworm beetle, ''Tenebrio molitor'', a species of darkling beetle. Like all holometabolic insects, they go through four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Larvae typically measure about or ...

s and houseflies, and then forwarded it to Jaume Raventos, a pharmacologist, for evaluation of anaesthesia in other animals. After Raventos established its pharmacological properties, it was given to Michael Johnstone, an anaesthetist in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England, who recognised its great advantages over the other anaesthetics available and established its first clinical trial in 1956. This process of systematic study of chemical compounds with a set of pre-defined characteristics has been identified as one of the first examples of modern

drug design Drug design, often referred to as rational drug design or simply rational design, is the inventive process of finding new medications based on the knowledge of a biological target. The drug is most commonly an organic small molecule that acti ...

Biography

Halothane research

References

Further reading