Each of the three states of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) bilayer membrane exhibited a different receptivity to anesthetic partitioning, and the partition coefficients of anesthetics in each membrane state were in the order of molecular hydrophobicity. The three phases of DPPC bilayer membranes were more receptive to the uncharged anesthetic than the charged species, and the transfer free energy of anesthetics from the aqueous phase to the different phases of bilayer was well correlated to the local anesthetic potencies.