A great deal of research has been devoted in recent years to the search for new drugs for the treatment of epilepsy and related convulsive disorders. This emphasis is occasioned by the fact that no one drug is effective for all patients, and also by the fact that the toxicity of a drug varies considerably from one patient to another. Among the most effective drugs are certain members of the hydantoin and barbituric acid series. For some time there has been in progress in this laboratory an investigation of members of these two series in which a hetro atom attached directly to the hetrocyclic nucleus is introduced into the side chain at position five of these two series.