• N&PD Moderators: Skorpio | thegreenhand

  • Neuroscience & Pharmacology Discussion Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Recent Journal Articles Chemistry Mega-Thread
    FREE Chemistry Databases! Self-Education Guide

cyclopropane, a little known old anaesthetic gass

N

Neuroprotection

Bluelighter
Joined
Apr 18, 2015
Messages
1,088
Cyclopropane (C3H6) is a highly flammable, colourless and slightly sweet smelling non toxic hydrocarbon gas formerly used as a general anaesthetic. However, due to its explosive nature, combined with the increasing roles of potential ignition sources e.g. electronic equipment like scanners and lasers in surgery, it has been completely abandoned.
Putting its flammability aside, it was considered an excellent anaesthetic. Below are listed some of its advantages:
Very lipid soluble but insoluble in blood
rapid onset and offset of deep anaesthesia and quick recovery
non irritating to the air ways at any concentration.
It would be interesting to know if anyone has tried cyclopropane, either given in a hospital, which is highly unlikely, or recreationally. I know it’s a dangerous substance due to being so flammable, but if handled properly, and used only in a well ventilated room, away from flames and electricity, and only with another sober sensible adult to supervise the user, I believe it might be a pleasant inhalant. One could experiment with sub anaesthetic doses of the gass, that is by filling a plastic bag with cyclopropane, than take a small breath from the bag followed by a large breath of fresh air. Repeat the process until you feel some affects, if you pass out, lower your dose or stop using. General anaesthesia is quite riski and is likely no fun at all since there’s little to experience or remember. Also, prolonged anaesthesia with cyclo can cause irregular heart beats upon awakening due to sensitisation of heart muscle cells to circulating epinephrine.
What do you all think of this substance?
despite the fire/explosion hazards does it have any recreational value?
 
It is very dissociative high that it produces just like high plateau DXM or Ketamin does.

It is pretty fucking flammable and I wouldn't recommend sticking that stuff into plastic bag as then it would be way more unsafe than using a closed system to deliver gas to you by press of a trigger.

There is a cyclopropanation related courses in technological institutes and therefore they had that gas on one vivid student party...
 
Fuck me mate don't mess around with cyclopropane...it's explosive when mixed with O2 and very dangerous...read about cyclopropane shock.

There's a reason it's hardly ever used anymore.

I can't think of many things stupider than messing with that stuff...
 
Cyclopropane shock pretty much happens only with doses related to a prolonged general anesthesia which isn't aimed when using recreationally.

Flammability is a real concern and that is why closed system should be used when delivering the gas. Luckily it is quite hard to get that stuff unless you are a student in area which uses this for experimenting and then you already know that flammability issue and can deal with it.

Every drug has its safety concerns and I don't recommend anyone to use anything.
 
Every drug has safety issues for sure but some have such a rediculous safety to benefit ratio that you just have to think maybe I should look elsewhere for recreational
 
Definately.

Using cyclopropane alone without good administration method is like asking for an explosion to happen. Flammable mix of cyclopropane and oxygen can easily form for example when someone uses turn valve to administer this and passes out for just seconds. Then it just takes simple electrostatic discharge from clothes or similar.

Using this alone without proper administration method is as stupid as doing fentanyl from patches.
 
Yeah agreed regarding the fentanyl.

I'm not really an expert on anesthetics but have been doing a bit more reading recently as we have just started using ketamine at work (UK paramedic) as a means of anesthesia to facilitate intubation. Obviously with ketamine there isnt the requirement for ventilation that there is with propofol or thiapentine.

cyclopropane sounds awful though....
 
Ketamine was introduced recently here too although army has been using it before. It is pretty good addition since you can start administering it on the field for pain management and use it for anesthesia and then again keep using it after the anesthesia for pain management.

Cyclopropane is NMDA receptor antagonist too so it is kinda similar in effects as ketamine but as said there are reasons why it isn't used in medical field anymore.
 
Were supposed to give it (ketamine) with 10mg IV midazolam to help with the unpleasant emergence phenomena due to the high dose needed to induced anesthesia.

Its handy for administering to those trapped in an RTC or similar situation where ventilation isn't possible.
 
MrRoot said:
It is very dissociative high that it produces just like high plateau DXM or Ketamin does.

It is pretty fucking flammable and I wouldn't recommend sticking that stuff into plastic bag as then it would be way more unsafe than using a closed system to deliver gas to you by press of a trigger.

There is a cyclopropanation related courses in technological institutes and therefore they had that gas on one vivid student party...
Click to expand...

Have you tried the gas yourself, if so how was it.
What was it like in comparison to nitrous oxide or ketamine, would you say it was more pleasant.
Also if you tried cyclopropane, did it have a particular smell or taste.
Thanks
 
Yeah I tried it back then. It has kind of sweet smell, pretty much like petrol or similar. The setting wasn't right for any harder experiments for me so I ended up feeling like taking third plateu DXM trip but without those hard edges that DXM has while on it. I have much more experience with DXM than I have with Ketamin so it is easier for me to compare into DXM.
 
MrRoot said:
Cyclopropane shock pretty much happens only with doses related to a prolonged general anesthesia which isn't aimed when using recreationally.

Flammability is a real concern and that is why closed system should be used when delivering the gas. Luckily it is quite hard to get that stuff unless you are a student in area which uses this for experimenting and then you already know that flammability issue and can deal with it.

Every drug has its safety concerns and I don't recommend anyone to use anything.
Click to expand...
What makes cyclopropane so flammable? Is it just as flammable as butane or propane, or is there something more to it.
I remember reading the Wikipedia page on cyclopropane several years ago where it was stated the substance is unstable under high pressure and can burn without oxygen. However, I don't think the current Wikipedia page makes any mention of this.
 
It still needs oxygen to burn but while using propane torch is considered mostly safe you still aren't (hopefully) doing drugs while you weld pipework together and don't need to worry if you end up dispensing the whole huge bottle into the room if you happen to pass out.

There have been multiple fatal accidents involving cyclopropane before and those happened in ER wards and similar where there were professionals looking after these bottles but the worst still happened. There is a reason why it isn't used anymore and the risks are even higher when used by random dude trying to get high on it.
 
Because cyclopropane functions as an NMDA antagonist and this is it's only viable mechanism of anaesthesia, neurotoxicity may be a possible side effect though this is practically not significant as it is no longer used today.
Xenon is a gas being considered for medical use as an anaesthetic and works as an NMDA antagonist. However it is far less neurotoxic and much more neuroprotective than nitrous oxide and ketamine. Some studies even go as far as to say that xenon is not a tall neurotoxic in the fully developed brain. This lack of neurotoxicity from xenon as well as it's enhanced neuroprotective capabilities are being investigated. One article I read came up with a very interesting hypothesis to explain this. Most NMDA receptor antagonists increase levels of synaptic dopamine either by release or Reuptake inhibition four example nitrous oxide and ketamine respectively.
Is it possible that cyclopropane shares the same mechanism of action as xenon, that is NMDA antagonism with concurrent suppression of dopamine release.
 
Neuroprotection said:
What makes cyclopropane so flammable? Is it just as flammable as butane or propane, or is there something more to it.
I remember reading the Wikipedia page on cyclopropane several years ago where it was stated the substance is unstable under high pressure and can burn without oxygen. However, I don't think the current Wikipedia page makes any mention of this.
Click to expand...

It's more reactive because of the strain on the ring, the bond angles are very sharp making it unstable and reactive to oxygen although not generally reactive. Under pressure it doesn't burn (changes occur but burning i.e. combustion by definition involves oxygen), it can isomerize to propylene though and is exothermic so like typical combustion it heats things up.

Seems really hard to make a safer analogue...
 
Last edited:
Thanks for that explanation.
Do you think the last thing I posted about NMDA antagonists is reflected in real life? For example would you say that PCP is more psychotic than ketamine?
I bet the reason laughing gas is so enjoyable, has alot to do with dopamine release and not just NMDA blockade,

Thanks
 
I think PCP is generally known to be much more psychotomimetic than ketamine, this could be due to DRI effects, whereas I'm a bit skeptic about direct D2 agonism these days because of the whole Seeman thing...

NMDA antagonists increase dopamine to a large degree by inhibiting GABA interneurons (normally NMDAr provide a lot of excitatory input to inhibitory GABA interneurons, so when you block those shut off those inhibitory neurons, the neurons downstream are un-inhibited) so I imagine the DRI would potentiate whatever dopamine efflux you see with NMDA antagonism. There are also effects on endorphins with PCP that I don't think you see with ketamine and such.

Also, nitrous oxide is pretty darn promiscuous, I don't think its pharmacology is full understood. We know that its binding to a whole lot more than NMDAr at least.
 
I have a hunch that 100% of the case reports of "spontaneous combustion" were nothing more than some folks who got too "fucked up bro!" huffing gasoline, sat down for a cigarette 3 minutes later and POOF:! !

Now they've all gone on home....they're stoned with Satan!!

Hehehehe spontaneous combustion...what a gas!
Lol

P.S. the only inhalant worth inhaling is Nitrous Oxide.
Anythinig else is peligro garbage, I don't give a fuck who says otherwise...NO2 or move on.
NMDA antagonism isn't that great anyways, go drink a bottle of Grand Marnier, ethanol does the same damn thing without even a 10th of the risk. Tastes better too!
 
Isnt the concentration like 65 percent of air for anesthesia. Your likely to just choke yourself to death.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top