Barbituric acid Manufacturer in kolkata india

Barbituric acid or malonylurea or 6-hydroxyuracil is an organic compound based on a pyrimidine heterocyclic skeleton. It is an odorless powder soluble in water. Barbituric acid is the parent compound of barbiturate drugs, although barbituric acid itself is not pharmacologically active. The compound was first synthesised by Adolf von Baeyer.

It remains unclear why Baeyer chose to name the compound that he discovered "barbituric acid". In his textbook Organic Chemistry, the American organic chemist Louis Frederick Fieser (1899–1977) initially speculated that the name stemmed from the German word Schlüsselbart (literally, the beard (Bart ; Latin: barba) of a key (Schlüssel) ; that is, the bit of a key), because Baeyer had regarded barbituric acid as central (or "key") to understanding uric acid and its derivatives. However, Fieser subsequently decided that Baeyer had named the compound after a young lady whom he'd met and who was called "Barbara" ; hence the name "barbituric acid" was a combination of the name "Barbara" and "uric acid". Other sources claim that Baeyer named the compound after Saint Barbara, either because he discovered it on the feast day of St. Barbara (December 4) or because he sometimes lunched with artillery officers and St. Barbara is their patron saint.

Uses
Using the Knoevenagel condensation reaction, barbituric acid can form a large variety of barbiturate drugs that behave as central nervous system depressants. As of 2007, more than 2550 barbiturates and related compounds have been synthesised, with 50 to 55 in clinical use around the world at present. The first to be used in medicine was barbital (Veronal) starting in 1903, and the second, phenobarbital was first marketed in 1912.

Barbituric acid is one of four ingredients used to make riboflavin (vitamin B2).