The anaerobic dechlorination of trichlorofluoromethane by rat liver preparations in vitro.

Incubation of trichlorofluoromethane with a liver microsomal fraction and an NADPH generating system under anaerobic conditions produced a metabolite dichlorofluoromethane, characterised by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The metabolic reaction was carried out by liver microsomes from the mouse, rabbit, hamster and rat and was increased by phenobarbitone pre-treatment. The formation of dichlorofluoromethane in vitro was enhanced by the addition of FMN, but partially inhibited by the presence of air, oxygen, SK&F 525-A, metyrapone and carbon tetrachloride and totally inhibited by carbon monoxide. The consumption of NADPH in the reaction was greater than could be accounted for by the production of dichlorofluoromethane indicating the possible formation of other metabolic products. It is suggested that trichlorofluoromethane interacts with the reduced form of cytochrome P-450 at the oxygen binding site and a possible mechanism for its subsequent reductive dechlorination is proposed.