>>11428973Synthesis would be akin to this:
Chlorinate glacial acetic acid at 120 °C and UV, yielding chloroacetic acid
Turn it into the sodium salt and react with sodium cyanide to give the nitrile
Base hydrolysis yields to disodium malonate
Esterify with ethanol to give diethyl malonate
Substitute the central carbon using for example 2 eq of ethyl iodide
Condense the diethyl ester of diethyl malonate with urea using sodium ethoxide to give diethylbarbituric acid, also called Veronal, the first commercially available barbiturate
