Charles Suckling

Charles Walter Suckling, Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)^[1] (1920-) is a British chemist who first synthesised halothane, a volatile inhalational anaesthetic in 1951, while working at the Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) Central Laboratory in Widnes.

Biography

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

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 in 1978.^[2]

He married Eleanor Margaret Watterson in 1946; they had two sons and a daaughter.

Halothane research

At the time of Suckling's original research, the main anaesthetic gases in use were chloroform and diethyl ether, 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 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, 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 mealworms and houseflies, and then forwarded it to Jaume Raventos, a pharmacologist, for evaluation of anaesthesia in other animals.^[3] After Raventos established its pharmacological properties, it was given to Michael Johnstone, an anaesthetist in Manchester, 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.

References

1. ^ Mosley C, ed (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage. 1 (107th ed.). Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd.. p. 356. 
2. ^ "Fellows". Royal Society. http://royalsociety.org/about-us/fellowship/fellows/. Retrieved 23 January 2011. 
3. ^ Raventós, J (1956). "The action of fluothane—a new volatile anaesthetic". British Journal of Pharmacology and Chemotherapy 11 (4): 394–410. PMC 1510559. PMID 13383118. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1510559. Retrieved 2010-11-14. 

Suckling, C. W. Some chemical and physical factors in the development of fluothane. Br J Anaesth. 1957 Oct;29(10):466-72.

O'Brien HD. The introduction of halothane into clinical practice: the Oxford experience. Anaesth. Intensive Care. 2006 Jun;34 Suppl 1:27-32.

Persondata
Name	Suckling, Charles
Alternative names
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Date of birth	1920
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death

This United Kingdom biographical article related to medicine is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: 1920 births Living people People from Teddington Imperial Chemical Industries people English biochemists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Society British medical biography stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую Kirti Sagatia Hugh Montgomery (mathematician) Look at other dictionaries: Norman Charles Suckling — (24 October 1904 August 1994) was an English biographer, composer, pianist, and writer on music. Born in the Forest Gate neighborhood of London, he studied at the Bancroft s School in Woodford Green, Essex in his youth. He then entered The Queen… …   Wikipedia Suckling (disambiguation) — Suckling is the feeding of an infant or young child with breast milk directly from a woman s breasts.Suckling may also refer to:* Mount Suckling, the highest peak of the Goropu Mountains * The Suckling , a 1989 horror filmPeople with the surname… …   Wikipedia SUCKLING (J.) — SUCKLING JOHN (1609 1642) Poète, cavalier, dramaturge et courtisan, célèbre surtout pour ses poèmes lyriques, Suckling était gentilhomme de la chambre de Charles Ier d’Angleterre et ami de Thomas Carew, de Richard Lovelace et de sir William… …   Encyclopédie Universelle Suckling, Sir John — born February 1609, Whitton, Middlesex, Eng. died 1642, Paris, France English Cavalier poet, dramatist, and courtier. He inherited his father s considerable estates at age 18 and became prominent at court as a gallant and a gamester; he is… …   Universalium Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham — The Lord Barham Born 14 October 1726 Leith, Midlothian, Scotland Died 17 June 1813 …   Wikipedia Charles Ewart — For the British general, see Charles Brisbane Ewart. Ensign Charles Ewart (1769 – 23 May 1846) was a Scottish soldier of the Royal North British Dragoons (more commonly known as the Scots Greys), famous for capturing the regimental eagle of the… …   Wikipedia Suckling, Sir John — (1609 1642)    Poet, s. of a knight who had held office as Sec. of State and Comptroller of the Household to James I., was b. at Whitton, Middlesex, ed. at Camb., and thereafter went to Gray s Inn. On the death of his f. in 1627, he inherited… …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature SUCKLING, SIR JOHN —    poet, born, of good parentage, at Whitton, Middlesex; quitted Cambridge in 1628 to travel on the Continent, and for a time served in the army of Gustavus Adolphus in Germany; returning to England about 1632 he became a favourite at Court,… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Norman Suckling — This article is about the New Zealand rower. For the English biographer, composer, pianist, and writer on music, see Norman Charles Suckling. Medal record Men s Rowing Competitor for  New Zealand …   Wikipedia John Suckling (poet) — Sir John Suckling (February 10 1609 ndash; June 1 1642) was an English Cavalier poet whose best known poem may be Ballad Upon a Wedding . He is well known as a Carpe Diem or Cavalier poet, and also as the supposed inventor of the card game… …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”