Editing Diethyl ether (section)

== History ==
The compound may have been synthesised by either [[Jābir ibn Hayyān]] in the 8th century<ref name=Barash>{{cite book |author1=Toski, Judith A |author2=Bacon, Douglas R |author3=Calverley, Rod K |title=The history of Anesthesiology |edition=4th |publisher=Lippincott Williams & Wilkins |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7817-2268-1 |page=3 |series=In: Barash, Paul G; Cullen, Bruce F; Stoelting, Robert K. ''Clinical Anesthesia''}}</ref> or [[Ramon Llull]] in 1275.<ref name=Barash/><ref name=Lullus>{{cite book |author1=Hademenos, George J. |author2=Murphree, Shaun |author3=Zahler, Kathy |author4=Warner, Jennifer M. |title=McGraw-Hill's PCAT |publisher=McGraw-Hill |page=39 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8MwxkLP87IUC&pg=PA39 |access-date=2011-05-25 |isbn=978-0-07-160045-3 |date=2008}}</ref> It was synthesised in 1540 by [[Valerius Cordus]], who called it "sweet oil of vitriol" (''oleum dulce vitrioli'') – the name reflects the fact that it is obtained by distilling a mixture of [[ethanol]] and [[sulfuric acid]] (then known as oil of vitriol) – and noted some of its [[medicinal properties]].<ref name=Barash/> At about the same time, [[Paracelsus]] discovered the [[analgesic]] properties of the molecule in dogs.<ref name=Barash/> The name ''ether'' was given to the substance in 1729 by [[August Sigmund Frobenius]].<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1098/rstl.1729.0045 | title = VIII. An account of a spiritus vini æthereus, together with several experiments tried therewith | journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London | volume = 36 | issue = 413 | pages = 283–289 | year = 1730 | s2cid = 186207852}}</ref>

It was considered to be a sulfur compound until the idea was disproved in about 1800.<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Ether|volume=9|page=806}}</ref>

The synthesis of diethyl ether by a reaction between [[ethanol]] and [[sulfuric acid]] has been known since the 13th century.<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Ether|volume=9|page=806}}</ref>

=== Anesthesia ===
[[File:The first use of ether in dental surgery, 1846. Ernest Board. Wellcome V0018140.jpg|thumb|left|The first use of ether in dental surgery, by [[Ernest Board]].]] 
[[File:Ether monument-Boston.JPG|thumb|250px|left|Panel from [[Ether Monument]] in Boston commemorating Morton's demonstration of ether's anesthetic use.]]

[[William T. G. Morton]] participated in a public demonstration of ether anesthesia on October 16, 1846, at the [[Ether Dome]] in [[Boston, Massachusetts]]. Morton had called his ether preparation, with aromatic oils to conceal its smell, "''Letheon''" after the [[Lethe|Lethe River]] (Λήθη, meaning "forgetfulness, oblivion").<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YcPvV893aXgC&pg=PA1129|page=1129|title=Inventors and Inventions, Volume 4|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7614-7767-9|first=Marshall|last=Cavendish|publisher=Marshall Cavendish }}</ref> However, [[Crawford Williamson Long]] is now known to have demonstrated its use privately as a [[general anesthetic]] in surgery to officials in Georgia, as early as March 30, 1842, and Long publicly demonstrated ether's use as a surgical anesthetic on six occasions before the Boston demonstration.<ref name=hill>Hill, John W. and Kolb, Doris K. ''Chemistry for Changing Times: 10th Edition''. p. 257. Pearson: Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. 2004.</ref><ref name="newgeorgiaencylcopedia">{{cite encyclopedia | url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/science-medicine/crawford-long-1815-1878 | title=Crawford Long (1815–1878) | publisher=University of Georgia Press | encyclopedia=New Georgia Encyclopedia | date=May 14, 2004 | access-date=February 13, 2015 | author=Madden, M. Leslie}}</ref><ref name="southernmedicalassoc">{{cite web | url=http://sma.org/sma-alliance/doctors-day-2/crawford-w-long/ | title=Crawford W. Long | publisher=Southern Medical Association | work=Doctors' Day | access-date=February 13, 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213210340/http://sma.org/sma-alliance/doctors-day-2/crawford-w-long/ | archive-date=February 13, 2015}}</ref> British doctors were aware of the anesthetic properties of ether as early as 1840 where it was widely prescribed in conjunction with opium.<ref name="Grattan">{{Cite journal |last=Gratian |first=N. |date=1840-11-07 |title=Dr. Grattan on the Treatment of Uterine Haemorrhage |journal=BMJ |language=en |volume=s1-1 |issue=6 |pages=107 |doi=10.1136/bmj.s1-1.6.107 |issn=0959-8138 |pmc=2488546 |pmid=21372908}}</ref> Diethyl ether was preferred by some practitioners over [[chloroform]] as a general anesthetic due to ether's more favorable [[therapeutic index]], that is, a greater difference between an effective dose and a potentially toxic dose.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Calderone, F.A. | journal = Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics | year = 1935 | volume = 55 | issue= 1 | pages = 24–39 | url = http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/cgi/reprint/55/1/24.pdf | title = Studies on Ether Dosage After Pre-Anesthetic Medication with Narcotics (Barbiturates, Magnesium Sulphate and Morphine)}}</ref>

Diethyl ether does not depress the [[myocardium]] but rather it stimulates the sympathetic nervous system leading to hypertension and tachycardia. It is safely used in patients with shock as it preserves the [[Baroreflex|baroreceptor reflex]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://anesthesiageneral.com/ether-effects/|title = Ether effects|date = 31 October 2010}}</ref> Its minimal effect on myocardial depression and respiratory drive, as well as its low cost and high therapeutic index allows it to see continued use in developing countries.<ref>{{cite journal |date=2010-10-31 |title=Ether and its effects in Anesthesia |url=http://anesthesiageneral.com/ether-effects/ |journal=Anesthesia General}}</ref> Diethyl ether could also be mixed with other anesthetic agents such as [[chloroform]] to make [[C.E. mixture]], or chloroform and [[Ethanol|alcohol]] to make [[A.C.E. mixture]]. In the 21st century, ether is rarely used. The use of flammable ether was displaced by nonflammable fluorinated hydrocarbon anesthetics. [[Halothane]] was the first such anesthetic developed and other currently used inhaled anesthetics, such as [[isoflurane]], [[desflurane]], and [[sevoflurane]], are halogenated ethers.<ref name=morgan>Morgan, G. Edward, Jr. et al. (2002). ''Clinical Anesthesiology'' 3rd Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 3.</ref> Diethyl ether was found to have undesirable side effects, such as post-anesthetic nausea and vomiting. Modern anesthetic agents reduce these side effects.<ref name=hill/>
[[File:Ether Dreams.jpg|thumb|left|An illustration depicting ether's effects, 1840s–1870s]] 
Prior to 2005, it was on the [[World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines]] for use as an anesthetic.<ref>{{cite web|title=Essential Medicines WHO Model List (revised April 2003)|location=Geneva, Switzerland|publisher=World Health Organization|website=apps.who.int|date=April 2003|access-date=6 September 2017|url=http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/68168/1/a80290.pdf|edition=13th}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Essential Medicines WHO Model List (revised March 2005)|location=Geneva, Switzerland|publisher=World Health Organization|website=apps.who.int|date=March 2005|access-date=6 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050805200129/http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2005/a87017.pdf|archive-date=5 August 2005|url=http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2005/a87017.pdf|edition=14th}}</ref>

=== Medicine ===
Ether was once used in pharmaceutical formulations. A mixture of alcohol and ether, one part of diethyl ether and three parts of ethanol, was known as [[Compound spirit of ether|"Spirit of ether"]], Hoffman's [[Anodyne]] or Hoffman's Drops. In the United States this concoction was removed from the [[United States Pharmacopeia|Pharmacopeia]] at some point prior to June 1917,<ref>The National Druggist, Volume 47, June 1917, pp. 220</ref> as a study published by [[William Procter, Jr.]] in the ''American Journal of Pharmacy'' as early as 1852 showed that there were differences in formulation to be found between commercial manufacturers, between international [[pharmacopoeia]], and from Hoffman's original recipe.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Procter|first=William Jr.|date=1852|title=On Hoffman's Anodyne Liquor|url=https://recipes.hypotheses.org/tag/hoffmans-anodyne#_ftnref1|journal=American Journal of Pharmacy|volume=28}}</ref> It is also used to treat [[hiccups]] through instillation into the nasal cavity.<ref>[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/5534411/ ncbi, Treatment of hiccups with instillation of ether into the nasal cavity.]</ref>

=== Recreational abuse ===
{{See also|Ether addiction}}

The recreational use of ether also took place at organised parties in the 19th century called [[History of general anesthesia#Western world|ether frolics]], where guests were encouraged to inhale therapeutic amounts of diethyl ether or [[nitrous oxide]], producing a state of excitation. Long, as well as fellow dentists [[Horace Wells]], William Edward Clarke, and [[William T. G. Morton]], observed that during these gatherings, people would often experience minor injuries but appear to show no reaction to them, nor memory that it had happened, demonstrating ether's anaesthetic effects.<ref>{{Cite web|title=How Ether Went from a Recreational 'Frolic' Drug to the First Surgery Anesthetic|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ether-went-from-recreational-frolic-drug-first-surgery-anesthetic-180971820/|access-date=2020-10-11|website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref>

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, ether drinking was popular among Polish peasants.<ref>{{Cite journal|last = Zandberg | first = Adrian| title = Short Article "Villages … Reek of Ether Vapours": Ether Drinking in Silesia before 1939| journal = Medical History| volume = 54| issue = 3| pages = 387–396| year = 2010| pmid = 20592886| pmc = 2890321| doi =10.1017/s002572730000466x}}</ref> It is a traditional and still relatively popular recreational drug among [[Lemkos]].<ref>{{Cite web| url = http://histmag.org/?id=349| title = Łemkowska Watra w Żdyni 2006 – pilnowanie ognia pamięci| last = Kaszycki| first = Nestor| date = 2006-08-30| work = Histmag.org – historia od podszewki| publisher = i-Press| location = Kraków, Poland| language = pl| access-date = 2009-11-25| quote = Dawniej eteru używało się w lecznictwie do narkozy, ponieważ ma właściwości halucynogenne, a już kilka kropel inhalacji wystarczyło do silnego znieczulenia pacjenta. Jednak eter, jak każda ciecz, może teoretycznie być napojem. Łemkowie tę teorię praktykują. Mimo to, nazywanie skroplonego eteru – "kropki" – ich "napojem narodowym" byłoby przesadą. Chociaż stanowi to pewną część mitu "bycia Łemkiem".
}}</ref> It is usually consumed in a small quantity (''[[wikt:kropka|kropka]]'', or "dot") poured over milk, sugar water, or orange juice in a [[shot glass]]. As a drug, it has been known to cause [[psychological dependence]], sometimes referred to as [[etheromania]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Krenz |first1=Sonia |last2=Zimmermann |first2=Grégoire |last3=Kolly |first3=Stéphane |last4=Zullino |first4=Daniele Fabio |title=Ether: a forgotten addiction |journal=Addiction |date=August 2003 |volume=98 |issue=8 |pages=1167–1168 |doi=10.1046/j.1360-0443.2003.00439.x |pmid=12873252 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/10652053}}</ref>{{medcn|date=April 2020}} 

Ether intoxication is referenced in [[Hunter S. Thompson]]'s ''[[Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas]]'', where in one of the book's most famous quotes, protagonist Raoul Duke declares that "There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge."<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/5237.Hunter_S_Thompson | title=Hunter S. Thompson Quotes (Author of Fear and Loathing in las Vegas)}}</ref>