In the presence of a spin trapping reagent, N-tert-butyl-alpha-phenylnitrone, anaerobic incubation of halothane (2-bromo-2-chloro-1,1,1-trifluoroethane) with a reconstituted cytochrome P-450 enzyme system of rabbit liver microsomes exhibited an electron spin resonance spectrum containing signals of a nitroxide radical, and all components of the reconstituted system were necessary to produce the nitroxide radical. Formation of 2-chloro-1,1,1-trifluoroethane, the product of anaerobic dehalogenation of halothane by the reconstituted system, was inhibited by N-tert-butyl-alpha-phenylnitrone. These results indicate that a radical intermediate of halothane is produced during the anaerobic dehalogenation reaction, and that the radical is trapped by N-tert-butyl-alpha-phenylnitrone to form a N-tert-butyl-alpha-phenylnitrone radical adduct.