Why does mixing benzocaine/ethanol and sodium hypochlorite smell like bubblegum?

Well, if you're really interested, you could try mixing them in pairs, and test the smell that way... Wouldn't recommend that though.

I don't think ethanol can react with any of the other compounds you named under regular conditions. So if there's a reaction, it's probably between the hypochlorite (kinda electrophilic) and the amino group of benzocaine (nucleophilic).

Regarding the toxicity, chlorinated organic compounds usually take a really long time to metabolize in the human body (like PCBs, dioxins), and if the hypothetical chemical being formed contains C-Cl bonds and is poorly soluble in water, but is lipophilic, it's a bad idea to get exposed to that stuff.

/r/chemistry Thread