High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Halothane (trademarked as Fluothane) is an inhalational general anesthetic. Its IUPAC name is 2-bromo-2-chloro-1,1,1-trifluoroethane. It is the only inhalational anesthetic agent containing a bromine atom; there are several other halogenated anesthesia agents which lack the bromine atom and do contain the fluorine and chlorine atoms present in halothane. It is colorless and pleasant-smelling, but unstable in light. It is packaged in dark-colored bottles and contains 0.01% thymol as a stabilizing agent. Halothane is a core medicine in the World Health Organization`s "Essential Drugs List", which is a list of minimum medical needs for a basic health care system. Its use in developed countries, however, has been almost entirely superseded by newer inhalational anaesthetic agents.