The reaction of 5-bromo-5-ethylbarbituric acid with mercaptan and pyridine in cold ether solution was studied and was found to be satisfactory for the preparation of the compounds reported in this work.

Since no mention has been found in the literature of any 5-substituted mercapto-5-alkyl derivatives of barbituric acid, it was thought to be of interest to prepare a series of compounds containing sulfur attached directly to the barbituric acid nucleus. 5-substituted mercapto-5-isoamylbarbituric acids were chosen as representative of barbituric acids in which the alkyl group has a fairly high molecular weight.