Further studies of the formation of mercury barbiturate films at a mercury anode

Potential sweep and step experiments have been used to reinvestigate the electrochemistry of 5,5′-disubstituted barbituric acids at a mercury electrode and it is confirmed that while all such compounds form a monolayer of an insoluble mercury barbiturate, the mechanism and kinetics of these oxidations depend on the detailed structure of the barbiturates. The experiments have been extended to barbituric acid and 5-ethylbarbituric acid and these would suggest that when the barbiturate is not fully substituted in the 5-position, more than a monolayer of the mercury salt is formed.