Looping animation of a barbituric acid molecule. Barbituric acid or malonylurea or 6_hydroxyuracil is an organic compound based on a pyrimidine heterocyclic skeleton. It is an odorless powder soluble in water. Barbituric acid is the parent compound of barbiturate drugs, although barbituric acid itself is not pharmacologically active. The compound was discovered by the German chemist Adolf von Baeyer on December 4, 1864, the feast of Saint Barbara who gave the compound its namesake, by combining urea and malonic acid in a condensation reaction.