MANY members of the barbituric acid series have been investigated with reference to their use as hypnotics in anesthesia. Fitch, Waters, and Tatum1 in their extensive work on barbituric acid derivatives emphasized the importance of short-acting members in anesthesiology.
Sodium 5-ally1-5-(1-methylbutyl) barbiturate (secobarbital [seconal®] sodium) appeared to be a desirable compound for use in anesthesiology.
Swanson2 reported its use in dogs. He showed that seconal® sodium produced hypnosis slightly more intense than that obtained with pentobarbital sodium and comparable to that obtained with amobarbital (amytal®) sodium. The time for complete recovery with seconal,® however, was one-half that with amytal® and slightly less than that with pentobarbital sodium.
Barlow and his co-workers3 reported that tolerance did not develop in dogs receiving repeated intravenous administration of seconal® sodium. The drug did not appear to be excreted in the urine. Like all other members of the same group, seconal® sodium