Abstract

Methods are described for the determination of trichloroethanol, chloral hydrate, and trichloroacetic acid when present together in plasma.

When chloral hydrate is administered intravenously to dogs, the concentration of chloral hydrate in the plasma falls rapidly. Trichloroethanol and trichloroacetic acid appear very quickly in the plasma and reach such concentrations as to indicate that only a small part of the chloral hydrate is oxidized and that a high proportion, perhaps all, of the remainder is reduced to the alcohol. The removal of trichloroethanol from the plasma is relatively slow, and the concentrations reached are sufficient to account, in large part at least, for the depressant effects that follow the administration of chioral hydrate.